


love conquers all

by LuciferCaelestis



Series: a love that saves, a love that destroys [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Black Paladin Shiro (Voltron), Emperor Keith, Eventual Dark Sheith, Fluff and Angst, M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Sheith Big Bang 2018, Sheith as Zaggar AU, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 00:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 42,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15983789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciferCaelestis/pseuds/LuciferCaelestis
Summary: This is the story of the Emperor and his Champion, long before they were anything but two men in love.This is the story of how love conquers all.(Before they were Emperor and Champion, they were Keith and Shiro. This is their story.)





	1. it's good to have you back

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my sheith big bang fic which spiralled way out of control, now the first installment in a series of bad decisions
> 
> a billion thanks to [MiidiocreShards](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiidiocreShards/pseuds/MiidiocreShards) for beta'ing this fic and all the help you gave while i was plotting this thing out.
> 
> i'm so so happy to have worked with [owlette](http://meowlettee.tumblr.com) and to enjoy her amazing [art](http://meowlettee.tumblr.com/post/178059315479/this-is-the-story-of-the-emperor-and-his)!!! please give her some love here
> 
> thank you to all my friends for hearing me out on this fic while i was gushing and/or complaining, i couldn't have done this without you
> 
> (also if you manage to catch all the disney references i put in there, i'll write you a free bonus fic for this universe, seriously)

“Princess Allura,” Keith greeted.

Allura looked up from her conversation with an older man with bright orange hair. Her welcoming smile was genuine, showing no hint of the grief she must have been feeling.

“Emperor Keith,” she nodded in return. “I’m thankful you came for this. It must have been a trial, convincing your council.”

She stuck out her hand, foregoing any royal etiquette and greeting him like an ally. He clasped her forearm, acknowledging her as a warrior and an equal in turn.

“Never mind the council. If what you promised was true, it will be well worth the headache.” He paused, feeling awkward but he forged on anyway. “I’m sorry for your loss. Your father was a great king–a great  _ man _ ,” he corrected. “I’m sure the universe will mourn his loss.”

“I appreciate your words. My father will be missed, but he would be proud of what I’m doing,” Allura said assuredly. “I will honour him by following in his example.”

Keith smiled at that. King Alfor had left big shoes to fill, but if he knew anything, it was that Allura would surpass him one day.

“I would like to offer my own condolences for your loss,” she continued.

He inclined his head, carefully keeping his face blank. He had no attachment to his grandfather. His father had been the one to raise him, until he died, and his mother had just left him when he was too young to even remember her. His grandfather, like his mother, had ignored him his whole life until his sudden decision to call his bastard grandson back to his court had ruined Keith’s life. 

Both of his parents had left him, so he’d carved his own path.

Allura made no mention of his apathy, only welcoming him inside the glowing beacon of the Altean Castleship.

They’d all agreed on holding the meeting on Altean ground, seeing how it was probably the most neutral place they could think of. Allura, as the instigator of this peace conference, would be responsible for the negotiations. He wasn’t worried though. He knew the others were as desperate for peace as he was. Allura wouldn’t allow any unfairness in the dealings to come.

Despite typical Galra disdain for Alteans, there was a reason why Alteans were known as the best diplomats.

She walked with him to the conference room, their path lit up by the glow of Altean technology. From what he remembered, Altean technology was powered by crystals, unlike the Galran reliance on rare ores and minerals found on their home planet.

“Have the others arrived yet?”

“The Herald of the Dalterion Belt has. We’re still waiting for Nalquod’s king to arrive, accompanied by Rygnarath’s Chief. Their last transmission said they would be here in less than 10 minutes.”

At the rectangular table in the middle of the room, someone was already seated. The Herald, if he remembered correctly, her eyes fixed on the screen of her tablet. 

He shifted his head a little to peer at her screen, curious what could be holding her attention so firmly for her to disregard protocol, but the symbols flashing across the screen were unrecognizable. 

In the end, he gave up and simply leaned against a wall, eyes taking in the rest of the room. It was decorated sparsely, blue lights glowing like most Altean technology.

His ears twitched when the remaining representatives entered the room with no small amount of noise. Allura moved to greet them before showing them to their seats.

It came as no surprise when both of them chose seats right next to each other. Out of all the people in the room, they were the only two with an established alliance and they were friends to boot.

He hadn’t had much dealings with either Nalquod or Rygnarath in the past, barring the usual trade agreements, so it was the first time he’d be dealing with them personally.

He could feel Lance’s eyes on him, glaring for some reason.

Keith pushed himself up from his position against the wall and took a seat beside Katie so he didn’t cause some kind of diplomatic incident five minutes in.

“Thank you all for coming here today. Now that everyone has arrived, we can begin this feast,” Allura said, satisfied while she settled into her seat at the head of the table. 

Servants began streaming from the doors, bringing platters of food and pitchers of what he later recognised to be nunville, the Altean drink of choice. Allura turned to Lance and began talking to him about something but Keith tuned it out after Lance started flirting with her.

Apparently, even Hunk couldn’t stand it for too long because he distracted Lance with a story before he could truly embarrass himself in front of Allura. Keith and Allura shared a commiserating look before he turned to Pidge and asked her a few questions about what she’d been doing on her tablet before she put it away.

She’d been happy to answer his questions, if a little impatient, and he spent most his time talking to either Allura or Pidge so the rest of the dinner went by smoothly.

  


*****

  


The next day, after an uneventful breakfast, they were gathered in the main meeting hall for their first meeting. Allura pulled up hologram figures of their planets and raised the screens with the data for all of them to view.

“I’m sure you all know that we’re here to discuss the attacks on our planets,” she began.

There was a general voicing of agreement in the room as they peered into the screens in front of them.

“I believe that these attacks were committed by the same people.” 

“Are you sure? Given that the attacks occurred around the same time, it doesn’t seem very likely. It could just as easily have been traitors or insurgents rising up or something,” Pidge questioned.

Allura directed her gaze at Pidge. “I have a feeling.” 

“You have a feeling?” Pidge scoffed. “I don’t mean to be dismissive, princess, but feelings aren’t enough for this. How do we know our attackers are the same? They could be separate groups with a different agenda. What do any of our planets have in common with each other?” She sat back when no one had anything to say. “Nothing.”

“The unlikeliness of it is why I’m so sure there is something at play here,” Allura insisted. “Each attack managed to cause massive casualties, as well as taking out the ruling class of each planet. This has been far too carefully planned to be a coincidence, including the timing of it.”

“So they wanted to capitalize on the chaos on our planets after the death of a ruler. But what would they have to gain from targeting our planets and why?” Hunk asked. 

“Will they target anyone else? Who will they target next? What’s their goal?” Lance added on, looking serious for the first time.

“Exactly,” Allura agreed, looking grim. “It has been months and there’s been no hint of why it happened, nor has there been news of any other attacks. I’m sure you all have assigned people to find out more about the attacks, but if your efforts were anything like mine, they’ve come back empty handed. I will not allow these people to get away with what they’ve done. Nor will I allow them to do it to anyone else instead.” 

Keith raised an eyebrow. “So what are you suggesting? I’m assuming you’re proposing an alliance between the five of us? Trade and military support to be exchanged for assistance in the event of more attacks on our planets? Maybe collaborating and forming teams to track down these insurgents before they try attacking again?”

“Yes, that is included in what I was about to suggest, but what I would like to propose something rather... radical.” She looked at them all, pinning them down with her gaze. “I think we should pursue these rebels ourselves. And that in the event of more attacks on other planets… we should involve ourselves directly.”

Silence rang in the room as disbelieving looks were thrown at her.

Nothing like this had ever been done before. Alliances were one thing but to save other planets from attacks, just because? In these times, it was unheard of.

“What? Are you joking?” Hunk was the first to speak.

“This is no joking matter. These attacks have ended with rulers of our respective planets either dead or out of commission. I can’t imagine the consequences if something like this were to happen again.”

Allura was done playing nice. Keith believed in being direct with what he wanted, and it looked like Allura was the same way, which he definitely agreed with.

Her gaze was piercing as she continued, “Tell me, is this not personal to you? It is our families, our people, our planets that have been hurt by these ‘rebels’, wouldn’t you rather make sure that it will never happen again to anyone else? Or do you just not care?” 

Keith jerked back when Hunk’s chair scraped against the floor as the other man stood up. 

“Some of us have other responsibilities besides playing hero,” Hunk said quietly, before he left the room.

“I’m with Hunk,” Lance agreed. “No offense, but why should we do this? I’m sure the alliance itself is worthwhile, but why should we personally team up and save other planets from themselves, putting our own at risk?” 

And he left the room the same way Hunk did.

Pidge’s fists were clenched and she levelled a glare at Allura before she left too.

Allura didn’t need Keith’s input to figure out that her words seemed to have backfired.

He nodded to Allura before leaving the room.

The rest of the day saw him wandering through the castle before he ended up in the hangar. He had no intention of leaving the castle yet but he found the hangar the most comfortable spot in the building.

To his surprise, he ran into Pidge stalking towards her ship.

“Are you leaving?” he said incredulously.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” she shot back.

“ _ Why _ ?”

She stopped and turned to look at him. “Because I have other things I could be doing instead of going around in circles trying to decide on something, or playing hero because I feel guilty!”

“This is important!” Keith grabbed her arm.

She glared at him and wrenched her arm away. “I have other priorities!” 

“What could be more important than your planet?!” He just couldn’t understand how she could walk away like that. She had a responsibility to her people and she didn’t even seem to care.

“My family!” she burst out. “They have my brother and father, I can’t just wait around hoping for a miracle! I’ll find them myself if I have to!”

Keith froze and the words he’d been meaning to say died on his tongue.

“There’s no one else who can help me so I agreed to this fool’s errand hoping to find some answers! I don’t have time to waste doing pointless things when my family could be dying!”

For the first time since he’d met her, he noticed how  _ young _ she was. He didn’t know how to persuade her to stay, but he balked at the thought of leaving her to deal with the burden by herself. 

“You can’t do this alone,” he said in a softer tone. “Maybe this meeting went off to a rough start, but you can’t give up just yet.”

She glanced at him before looking away.

He sighed. “I can’t make any decisions for you, but I hope you stay.”

"Wouldn't you do the same thing if you were in my situation? If it was your family at risk?"

"You're right. If it were me, I would do anything to save them," he admitted. "But I don't have any family left to save so it's a moot point. The thing is, I would know about my duty to my people. It's important.”

“I’m the only one who can do this. I just want them back.”

He could see the parts of her that reminded him of himself; the drive, the determination, the  _ fire _ . He didn’t want to see it burn out so soon.

Looking at her, he made an impulsive decision. “No matter what happens in the next meeting, you’ll have whatever help I can give you.”

Pidge paused, gaping at him, before giving him a suspicious look. “Really?”

“Yes.”

She blinkedgave him a small smile. “Thank you.”

He didn’t want her to thank him, he just wanted her to not end up like him.

  


*****

  


The next meeting began the morning after, when they’d all had a chance to cool down and think about the proposition.

Allura didn’t bother pulling up the diagrams of the last meeting, because there was nothing left to be said. She stood before them, a calm expression on her face that just dared someone to ask for the reason.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that something like this never happens again,” she reiterated.

“Why is it so important to you that we stop this from happening personally?” Keith asked, because he knew there was something else going on beneath Allura’s calm exterior.   
  


“Because I froze, and did not do anything, and my father died protecting me! Because I can’t stand the thought of that happening to someone else, when I could have made a difference. They’ve already taken so much from me, they don’t get to do that to anyone else.

“There is a lot of injustice going on in the universe, and I think together, we could prevent that. With all the power we have, we could do so much good together.”

He already knew he would agree to it. No matter how much he didn’t care about his grandfather’s death, his people had died and been injured by these rebels. He had a responsibility to take care of this for them. And despite his rather pragmatic mindset, he didn’t want any others getting hurt, not if he could prevent it.

The way the others had tensed, he could tell they were on the verge of acceptance already. 

Apparently, Allura’s honesty now had won them over when her righteousness the day before hadn’t. It would only take one of them to break for the others to follow.

He found himself wanting to rock the boat a little.

“I’m in.”

“You are?” she asked. Judging by the look on her face, he’d been less obvious about his intentions than he’d thought.

“We have a responsibility to our people to apprehend the perpetrators, and clearly none of us were making much progress alone, so working together might help. And you were right,” he said, looking around the table. “We could do a lot of good together.”

Allura’s face brightened.

“You’re all insane,” Lance interrupted, “but what the hell, so am I. Count me in.”

Hunk looked at his partner before giving in with a sigh. “Maybe it is time for a change,” he agreed.

Allura clapped her hands together in satisfaction. “Finally there is one last matter to settle before this meeting is concluded. We need a leader,” Allura said.

She motioned towards the doors, and they opened to reveal a tall Altean male with dark hair and white bangs who walked into the room with a commanding stride.

“This is my general, Commander Shirogane–” 

Allura continued speaking but Keith wasn’t listening anymore. His eyes were drawn to Shirogane. The name was familiar to him somehow, and something about the man’s face just caught his attention. He felt like he should recognize Shirogane, could it be–

No. There was no way he could’ve known Shirogane before.

Shirogane’s eyes landed on his, and stayed there. They were familiar, warm and kind and it took his breath away. At this moment, the man reminded him so much of Shiro, he ached. He didn’t dare get his hopes up, only to be disappointed again.

The exchange between them could have only taken seconds but it felt like an eternity before Keith could turn away.

Pidge appeared to be arguing with Allura, about how Shirogane being the leader could lead him to favour Altea, and Allura was trying to argue her case.

“Why don’t we elect someone else to lead with him?” Hunk suggested. “An equal responsibility of leadership could be shared between them both so there’s no unfairness.”

“Shiro, how do you feel about this?”

Shirogane’s eyes finally left him as he scanned the room and Keith felt a prickle of surprise when they landed on him yet again.

“It seems like the wisest option,” Shirogane answered in a low voice. “With all due respect, I’d like to elect Keith of Daibazaal as my co-leader.”

“What? Why him? How can we trust him as a leader, he’s  _ Galra, _ ” Lance exclaimed. Hunk restrained Lance from leaping out of his chair in offense. None of them seemed to disagree with him though.

He should’ve known his reputation would precede him.

Allura and Shirogane had a quiet conversation, with Shirogane growing more insistent and ending with Allura’s capitulation.

“Altea and Daibazaal have been at war with each other for centuries, before the truce. But that doesn’t mean Galra can’t be trusted. I’ve personally befriended several Galra and they have great honour. I would be glad to call Keith a friend and leader.”

“So, are we all in favour of Keith leading us alongside Commander Shirogane?”

“Yes,” Shirogane nodded confidently.

Taking a quick look at his longest-held ally, Hunk gave his affirmation as well.

“I’m only doing this because it looks like you’re our best chance at defeating these rebels, but fine,” Lance said grudgingly.

Pidge smirked at Keith knowingly before nodding, likely sensing the dread he was feeling at the thought of leading them.

“My answer is yes, so I believe we’ve reached a consensus? Keith and Shiro will lead our team, and now an alliance has been brokered between all five of our planets. We will fight to protect our people, and defeat these vile people.”

A round of agreements saw Allura smiling widely for the first time since he’d seen her.

“I’ve prepared an alliance treaty document that we should now sign.”

The paper was passed between them all, each signing their official agreement to the treaty.

“Excellent! As you know, a feast has been prepared for the evening but you may retire to your rooms now.”

The others filed out slowly, lead by Allura’s advisor, leaving him, Allura and Shirogane alone in the room.

“Emperor Keith, may I formally introduce you to my trusted commander, Commander Shirogane?”

Shirogane’s eyes searched his.

“Your Majesty,” he offered quietly.

Keith made a split-second decision. “Call me Keith.”

“Shiro. Or maybe I should say, Takashi,” Shirogane said, looking down shyly.

Keith froze.

All the little things that had been niggling at his memory that he’d been avoiding abruptly slid into place. 

“Takashi?” he somehow managed to say without his voice giving out. 

“Keith. I thought you’d forgotten me,” Shiro said playfully, but his eyes were worried.

Keith was horrified by the very thought of it. How could he ever forget the man who’d changed his life and made it so much better? “I could never forget you,” he said with all the feeling he could muster. Not even when it hurt, not when Shiro had left, he just couldn’t have.

He’d forgotten the way Shiro’s entire face brightened when he smiled, Keith could do nothing but smile back at him.

“I missed you too,” Shiro replied.

“I thought you were dead,” Keith confessed. It had been horrible, waiting for a reply that never came, until eventually he’d come to think the worst. He held out his hand for the usual Galran forearm clasp, wanting to feel for himself that Shiro was alive but not wanting to exceed Shiro’s boundaries, but Shiro grabbed it instead tugged him forward, wrapping him in a hug.

Keith couldn’t recall the last time he’d been hugged. Probably the last time he’d seen Shiro, all of eleven years old, and wishing desperately that his only friend would not have to leave.

Shiro pressed even closer, wrapping his left arm around Keith, both their right arms still trapped between their bodies. It felt safer than anything had been for so long.

“It’s so good to see you again, Keith,” Shiro said.

Keith looked at him then, earnest smile and warm eyes and he knew he had to leave. He could only take so much of this before all of his defenses came tumbling down and he broke down in front of everyone. A rush of emotions he hadn’t felt in too long were still coursing through his body, and he wanted time to come to terms with this revelation by himself.

“I’m sorry, I need to go,” Keith announced abruptly. 

Shiro blinked at the sudden shift, looking a little hurt by his retreat, but he let Keith go anyway.

Hesitantly, Keith clasped Shiro’s shoulder gently, knowing that if he didn’t leave soon, he would never be able to let go.

“It’s good to have you back,” he offered.

Shiro smiled. “It’s good to be back.”

It hurt so much to be the one walking away this time, but he didn’t look back.

  


*****

  


He spent the next few hours contemplating the consequences of the alliance and how his council would react to it. It was easier than thinking about Shiro and how he felt about that.

He knew, as well as they did, that they had no real power. His grandfather had instated them to give the appearance of fair leadership, flimsy as it was. Now that Keith had settled into his power after his first year as emperor, they could try to grab for power, either by killing him, turning him into a puppet ruler or stealing whatever power they could, given the opportunity.

They thought he was inexperienced, that unlike his grandfather, he was weak enough to be killed of for controlled. He would just have to prove them wrong.

Even if he’d never wanted to become emperor, leaving his people to suffer did not sit well with him.

Allying with the Alteans and other planets was considered beneath the Galra. Galra were conquerors, not weaklings in need of alliances. He might have turned out like that, had he not grown up on Altea and later on became friends with Shiro.

His grandfather had brokered an uneasy truce with the Alteans. Keith had no doubt that he would have loved to take control of Altea but the strength of the Alteans stopped him. It hadn't stopped his daughter from taking an Altean to her bed though.

And Keith had been the result of such a union.

Unwanted and shunned by both sides of his heritage.

He pushed such thoughts of his parents and his past from his mind. It would do no good for him to dwell on something that couldn’t be changed.

To distract himself from his tumultuous thoughts, he refused the invitation to join the others for dinner and instead went to the hangar to take his personal fighter out for a spin.

Flying was always therapeutic to him, and it was much better than thinking about the council or his past.

The one thing he couldn’t avoid thinking of when he was flying though, was Shiro.

Shiro had been the one to instill a love of flying in him, the only one who’d seen his potential and believed in him.

After pulling a few tricks and dives, he felt better, and ready to finally talk to Shiro.

As he left the hangar, he wondered absently what Shiro would think of his fighter, and the rest of his personal collection still back on Daibazaal– his only indulgence. He hoped that he would one day get the chance to show Shiro all the things that had changed since they last met.

Thinking of how Shiro would deal with Daibazaal's extreme heat and desert terrain, he had to stifle a laugh. His old friend was used to the temperate climates of Altea and from Keith's memory, had always preferred to play inside whenever it got too cold.

His smile faded a bit when he realised that those habits of Shiro's could have changed.

It didn't matter. Whether Shiro had changed or not, he was determined to get to know Shiro all the same.

Ten years was a long time, but there was nothing that could turn him away from Shiro now that he'd found him.

He ran into Coran, Allura’s advisor, on his way to Shiro and managed to ask him where Shiro was: the observatory. Keith quickly escaped to the observatory before he was drawn into what was clearly leading up to be a long-winded tale.

Shiro was alone, gazing into the starry abyss. Keith had the feeling he’d caught Shiro in a contemplative mood, time he would normally spend in private, and began to leave.

Before he could take another step out the door, Shiro turned around. 

“Keith?” he said, sounding truly surprised. “I didn’t think I’d see you until tomorrow. It’s late.”

Keith took a deep breath and gathered his courage. “I wanted to see you,” he admitted.

Shiro raised his eyebrow, no doubt about to point out that they’d seen each other just a few hours ago and would definitely see each other the next day, before his face softened.

“Well, here I am. What did you want to talk about? Unless you’d like some time to think about it.”

His courage faltered for a moment.

Even though they would definitely be spending more time together later on as part of this alliance, now that he’d decided he wanted to talk to Shiro, he didn’t want to delay it any more than he already had. 

He’d wasted enough time away from Shiro, trying to process Shiro’s presence in his life again, but they were somewhere anyone could walk in on their conversation and he selfishly wanted these first few moments between him and Shiro to be private. 

The silence was deafening, and Shiro made no effort to say anything, waiting patiently for him to start talking.

He faltered a little. What if Shiro didn’t want to see him? What if he was imposing his own feelings on Shiro?

It would be Shiro’s right. It had been a long time, and what if he had moved on? Especially after Keith had beaten such a hasty retreat after getting overwhelmed earlier.

A voice in his head whispered that even if they did manage to reconnect, they would not have much time together.

After all, he had other things he needed to do too, speaking to Allura about this alliance for one, and coming up with strategies to deal with the rebels like a good emperor would. But more than anything, he missed his friend and the thought of delaying his time with Shiro made his heart hurt. For now, he would let himself be selfish.

A few minutes passed as he tried to find a way to explain his thoughts. It had been so long since he’d had to explain himself to anyone. Longer still since he’d wanted to.

Years of separation hadn’t stopped Shiro from being able to read him apparently because Shiro’s face softened after a while. “It’s alright, Keith. I wanted to search you out earlier too but you seemed to want some distance.”

"No! I mean– yes I did, but– I'm not explaining this very well..." he trailed off. "Seeing you again, it just hit me out of nowhere. After you left..." Keith shrugged helplessly. "I waited for you to come back but then things changed."   
  
"What happened?" Shiro asked and Keith knew he was going to ask that at some point but he still had to prepare himself. "I expected to see you when I got back, like we promised, but you were just... gone. You never came back and I thought– I thought I would never see you again."   
  
"My grandfather happened."   
  
Thinking of what had happened all those years ago still made his blood boil. He might not have had a typical childhood, but he'd been content and he'd had Shiro. His grandfather had changed that by dragging him away from the only home he'd ever known, and he hadn't even cared about Keith either. Not long after that, Keith had lost Shiro too and that had sent him into a downward spiral.   
  
Shiro patiently waited for him to regain his bearings. 

Keith continued, "I didn't know who my grandfather was, you know that. Dad never told me about Mom’s side of the family before he died. Then suddenly these people turn up at the orphanage saying that I needed to come back with them to Daibazaal upon order of the emperor. It wasn't like the matron could stop them, or even wanted to, she was probably happy to get rid of me.   
  
"And then I arrive at the palace and I find out that the fucking Galra emperor is my grandfather. What made it worse was that he didn't even care about me. He just thought it was dishonour on his own blood to live in an Altean orphanage." Keith's voice lowered into a whisper. "He didn't even know me and he was already ashamed of me."

Shiro made to say something, but Keith held out a hand to stop him. "He made me take all sorts of lessons and by the time I turned 15, I was drafted in the army. It didn't take me long to climb the ranks but he made it abundantly clear that he didn't care about me and would have left me to rot in Altea." Keith let out a shaky breath. “I wish he hadn’t cared. I would have been happier here.”

  
He didn’t look up as he finished the tale, "So that's what happened when you left. I’d tried to send letters back to Altea, but I couldn't get in contact with you so after a while, I just thought you were dead. By the time I had the freedom to come back and find out for sure... I was scared. Of what I would find out and that if you had been receiving my letters but just didn’t care anymore… Or if you were there, but you’d reject me because I had changed so much already."   
  
"Keith…” Shiro said soothingly, before clasping his shoulder. “I don't blame you. You didn't want to leave, and it sounds like you didn't have a choice anyway. I would have been happy to see you then, and so relieved to know that you were ok, not dead or missing like I’d expected."   
  


He'd forgotten what it had been like to have someone care so much about him. How safe Shiro made him feel. He couldn't remember the last he'd felt that way.

Keith gave him a shaky smile. “I’ve told you what happened to me when you left. What about you? I mean, you've done well for yourself. Allura's field commander at 25. Congratulations."

Shiro crossed his arms, avoiding Keith’s gaze. “You know how my grandfather died then, leaving me with no other family. So King Alfor took me in and fostered me as his own apprentice, but you knew that already. By the time I was settled in at the palace and had gone back to find you, you were gone. And no one could tell me where you were. I worried about you, you know, until I found you again.” 

When he stopped talking, his eyes met Keith’s, and the sincerity in them was overwhelming. 

Keith’s heart fluttered. Shiro had looked for him? 

“In the meantime,” Shiro continued, “I climbed through the ranks, much like you did, I suppose. I trained a lot those days, hoping that when I found you or when you came back, I’d have something to show you. Allura was my greatest friend here. In the end, we mourned Alfor together when he passed.

“You would have liked him, Alfor. He was a good master, and a good man. He was just as blunt and reckless as you were sometimes though. I can’t count the number of times we had to fight a way out of a situation because he would run in without a plan,” Shiro laughed, shaking his head wryly.

“He sounds like a great man,” Keith said, meaning it in a way he hadn’t when he’d been talking to Allura. Shiro had clearly been happy studying with him, and that was the greatest achievement Keith could ever acknowledge.

“He was. I hope that one day, I’ll make him proud. He was the closest thing to a father I had.”

“I’m sure he’s already proud of you, Shiro. Just for being the best man you could be.”

“I hope so, Keith... I would have liked for him to have met you,” Shiro whispered.

“He’s probably watching you from the stars even now.”

Shiro seemed grateful for his attempt at comfort. "Keith? I'm glad you came to see me. I hoped you would."

A thought struck him about the earlier meeting and he couldn’t help asking, “How did you know it was me? Before,” Keith clarified. “You recognized me first, but I must have changed from how you remember me.”

Shiro smiled. “You’ve always had such fire in your eyes, Keith. I could never forget those eyes.”

Keith looked away, embarrassed. 

“How did you know it was me though? You looked like you recognized me for a moment.”

“I’d know you anywhere, Takashi.”

Shiro looked at him then, no doubt seeing the changes in Keith now from the Keith he'd known before. Keith knew what he saw; he'd grown colder, more defensive. He'd had to, to survive his grandfather's court and later on, becoming emperor.

It was likely that Shiro wouldn't like who Keith had grown up to be. 

“I don’t think you’ve changed that much, Keith,” Shiro said quietly.

Shiro seemed just as determined as he was so long ago to get to know Keith, to have to fight for every inch past Keith's walls. Little did Shiro know that as soon as they had reunited, Keith's heart had already surrendered.

It was time to change the subject to something lighter before Shiro’s intensity overwhelmed him.

“Do you come here often? The attendant I asked seemed very certain that this was where you would be?”

Shiro accepted the abrupt change with grace.

“You could say that. I have a tendency to brood here,” Shiro laughed. “Everyone knows this is where they can find me, but they try not to disturb me most of the time.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impose.”

“You’re always welcome, Keith. Always,” he repeated.

“Thank you, Takashi.”

Shiro smiled wistfully. “It’s been a long time since someone’s called me that.”

Keith moved closer to Shiro.

"Most people call me Shiro now,” Shiro explained. “After Grandpa died, you were the only one who still called me Takashi… It felt wrong to let anyone else do it.”

Family was important to Shiro. Keith understood. "Shiro then," he offered.

"You can call me Takashi, Keith."

Maybe when he felt like he deserved it, he would.

  


*****

  


During the next meeting, they’d be discussing a plan now that they’d all agreed to the alliance.

“I’ve asked that you bring back whatever findings you’ve obtained from your own searches. Does anyone have any suggestions where we should start?” Allura asked.

“I think we should begin... with Daibazaal. The last attack,” Keith suggested.

“Why attack Daibazaal last? From my understanding, the other four attacks happened around in quick succession, before a lapse and then the attack on Dabazaal happened. After that, there have been no more attacks. Why? What makes it different from the others?” Pidge questioned.

“Because the attack on Daibazaal wasn’t just an attack. It was a takeover. A successful one,” Keith answered.

Lance looked taken aback. ”What? Why didn’t we hear of this?”

“The Galra Empire shows no weakness,” Keith quoted, before getting serious. “The takeover in Daibazaal ultimately failed because of me. That’s how I gained the overall support of my people.”

“But what was the attack meant to accomplish?” Hunk asked.

“Their attack was launched at the center of our imperial city, Draal. With my grandfather in attendance, during one of the busiest times of day. With the chaos involved after my grandfather’s death… it would have been easy for anyone already in power to take advantage of the confusion.”

Shiro looked like he was coming to the same conclusion he was. “Especially if they managed to kill you as well. With the emperor and his heir dead, it would leave a vacuum of power.”

“Who would have the most to gain from this? A distant relative desiring to take the throne?” Allura questioned.

“No. The line of succession works differently for us. With my grandfather as emperor, even if I am a bastard, as his grandson, I am his heir, his only heir. But after me…” Keith thought for a moment. “It would have come down to the Kral Zera,” he realized.

“The Kraal Zaira?” Lance asked.

“The Kral Zera,” Keith corrected. “It’s a trial by combat. The first to light the flame is crowned the new Emperor on our sacred ground, witnessed by all those present.”

“And anyone can take part in this Kral Zera?” Shiro asked curiously.

“Yes. But only the strongest would dare try. There is no guarantee of survival.”

“So we know now that this was a plot to gain power in the Galra Empire, that’s great, but how are our planets involved?” Lance interrupted.

“My planet has no dealings with the Galra Empire, the only exception being our trade of Balmera Crystals. Our policy is to stay away from Galra for the most part, bloodthirsty menaces that they are, no offence, Keith,” Hunk explained.

“None taken,” Keith said dryly.

Pidge brought up the data about her planet on the holograms. “The Dalterion Belt is made up of three planets with the highest grade of technology in the universe, we’ve always been targets but never like this. It doesn’t make sense, people would steal our tech, not kill our leaders.”

“And Nalquod is a tourist destination! We have nothing to do with the Galra. What would they want from us?” Lance exclaimed.

“Altea and Daibazaal have always been uneasy allies despite the truce but I cannot think of any reason why we would be included in a Galra plot for power,” Allura agreed.

“So… it wasn’t the same people as the ones who attacked Daibazaal?” Hunk tried.

“No… I have a feeling in my gut that says they’re all connected somehow. I just can’t see it yet,” Allura said, sounding frustrated.

“We can go around in circles trying to figure out why they did this but what are we actually going to do about finding them?” Pidge demanded.

“To find them, we would need to know what we are looking for, and it is emphatically clear that we do not.”

Hunk took over. “I didn’t find much, but I do know one thing. There had to be a traitor in the ranks. There’s no other way anyone could have gotten close to the last Guardian.”

Traitors. If there was one thing Keith hated most in the universe, it was a traitor.

It was a sobering realization that there were more than a few traitors in his court, just waiting for him to slip up so they could gain power. He hadn’t mentioned it to the others but he knew at least a few people who were likely involved in the attacks.

“We may not be paranoid like the Galra, but I know that my parents had security everywhere they went,” Lance contributed.

“My father as well. There is no chance that a traitor wasn’t involved in his assassination.”

“So there are traitors in our courts, and we don’t know who is orchestrating the entire thing, we don’t even know if they were done by the same people. It’s good to know that this entire alliance was  _ useless, _ ” Pidge snapped.

“Hey, we only just started here. We’ll figure this out,” Shiro tried to say.

“We don’t have time!”

“We don’t know when the next attack will occur, if it will at all, but we can’t afford to rush things and make any mistakes,” Allura insisted.

“They still have my father and brother!” Pidge yelled. She deflated, looking like she might cry. “They still have my father and brother and I don’t know what they’re going to do with them.” Pidge swept at her eyes, continuing in a steadier voice. “My father and Matt were some of the smartest people this side of the galaxy. Who knows what they’ll do to them, what they could use them for…”

Allura’s voice was softer now. “I understand. We  _ will _ help you find them, Pidge.”

He hadn’t forgotten her outburst in the hangar, but it was still shocking to see her break down so totally.

No doubt she had to be terrifyingly smart to have gotten her position, as far as he knew, her planet was no monarchy, but she was young and determined to find her family and he could respect that.

Trying to allow Pidge some time to regain her composure, he asked, “Allura, why are you so certain that the plot against Daibazaal and what happened to your planets are part of the same plan? I can’t think of any connection between them, and I doubt any of you can either.”

It was true. Their planets only had contact with each other in the most business-like sense.

“What if we’ve been looking at this all wrong?” Shiro said slowly. “We were trying to figure out why the other planets, what kind of connection they had to the Galra Empire, but it wasn’t about that, so we didn’t find any! It was about what kind of connection they  _ could _ have to the Galra Empire. The  _ potential. _ ”

Shiro looked around, and seeing that they were all lost, decided to explain further. “Think about it. The attacks all happened before Daibazaal’s successful takeover. And with the instability of the political climate and young new rulers, it would have been easy pickings for the Galra to conquer your planets as well.”

Pidge’s eyes widened, and they could practically see the gears turning in her head. 

“He’s right. The resources each of them would provide… Nalquod is mainly a tourist destination, but it’s also a massive trade hub, a rich planet. Rygnarath, as guardians to the Balmera have unlimited access to the Balmera’s crystals, which provide the best source of energy in the universe. The Dalterion Belt is home to some of the most intelligent people in the galaxy, as well as the most advanced technology in the universe.”

“What about Altea?”

With horror in her voice, Allura answered, “Altea brings the double gift of Altean alchemy and our alliances with other planets, planets the Galra couldn’t touch because of their reputation. With all those resources at their disposal, they wouldn’t stop with just those four, they could continue to conquer even more planets, until who knows when they would have to stop…”

Lance gestured at them all. “So all of this was just a giant plot to gain power and expand the Galra Empire? All the deaths and suffering, my people, my  _ parents _ … because your people are too power hungry and have no morals?!”

“This is not my fault. There are people hungry for power everywhere, I’m sure your kingdom has its fair share of traitors!”

“Hey, we won’t get anywhere passing around blame like this. Keith is not responsible for what  _ a few _ of his people are doing. Alright?” Shiro said.

“Fine, we’ve figured out why they were doing this, even who would probably be responsible. So what do we do about it?” Hunk asked.

“There is a high probability that it was one of my grandfather’s displeased military commanders. I’m sure there are some of my Council members are in on it as well. But I cannot just confront them, especially if I don’t know who is loyal or not.”

“No, you shouldn’t confront them. Not alone. Considering that you are the only thing standing between whoever is planning this and the Galra Empire, you need to be protected, at least until it’s over,” Shiro said.

“I’ve had attacks on my life since even before I took the throne but that is to be expected. All of them have failed so far. I can protect myself,” Keith protested.

“We are depending on you to find out who is behind all this, as well as protecting yourself from any attempts to kill you or topple you from your throne. You cannot do this alone, especially since you’ve already stated that you do not know who to trust there,” Allura said.

“When you go back, you should bring me with you,” Shiro suggested.

“What? No!”

Why would he ever want to subject Shiro to the viper’s nest that was his court?

“It’s the best solution,” Shiro said reasonably. “I can protect you, act as your bodyguard and also help you figure out who is behind all this. As a guest, I could even snoop around and try to find out more.”

“I don’t need you to protect me.”

“But I want to,” Shiro said calmly. “Let me help you.”

His eyes said ‘ _ you don’t have to do everything alone _ ’, but he just couldn’t risk Shiro’s life like that, especially when they’d just found each other.

“Allura, what are your thoughts on this?” Keith asked, in a last ditch resort. He was hoping she would be more reasonable about this than Shiro was.

Shiro sent her a pleading look.

“Your Majesty, please consider it a sign of goodwill from Altea to Daibazaal, that one of my most trusted advisors be allowed to visit your planet as our ambassador,” Allura said in her official voice.

He gave up. Clearly there was no arguing with both Allura and Shiro on this matter, so he’d just have to take care of everything quickly so there would be no risk left. “Of course, it would be an honour to have Commander Shirogane as a guest in my palace.”

“Well that’s settled. Keith and Shiro will go to Daibazaal and root out the perpetrators behind this entire plan, meanwhile we–” she said, gesturing to the four of them”–will be finding and dealing with the traitors in our own courts, as well as searching for any other hideouts they may have on our planets.”

“We should be also on the lookout for any other attacks then. Just because they failed on the first one doesn’t mean they won’t try again.”

Daibazaal was probably the most dangerous place to be now, knowing of the plot and how it hinged on his death or dethronement.

  
  



	2. patience yields focus

The journey back to Daibazaal was a comfortable one. Keith had dreamed of one day exploring space by Shiro’s side and it almost felt like he could live that dream out once with Shiro in the pilot seat next to him.

Of course, when they arrived, he was greeted with all the problems that had piled up after his trip to Altea. He groaned before turning to Shiro, and putting on a show for the observers watching them. 

“Commander Shirogane, welcome to Daibazaal. I hope your stay here will prove to be… illuminating.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Shiro tagged along wonderfully.

“Would you care to join me for a discussion in my study?”

“Of course.”

He knew that his return to Daibazaal meant the return of his duties, especially after the few days’ reprieve but he was content to push it back a little further.

There was a small part of him that was excited to have Shiro around on Daibazaal. He wanted to drag Shiro around and show him everything he’d wanted to in the past before he’d found Shiro again, but he tempered his impatience.

They would have time.

The walk back to his study was short, but he tried to point out as many features of the palace as he could for Shiro.

“Vrepit sa,” the guards saluted.

Keith nodded in acknowledgement and they both entered the study, the doors falling shut behind them.

“Vrepit sa?” Shiro asked in a joking tone.

Keith rolled his eyes and gestured for Shiro to take a seat.

"How much do you know about the Galra?"

"Not much, just what little Allura has told me over the years."

“There are reasons why I didn’t fit in on Altea, Shiro. I am too Galra for the Alteans, and too Altean for the Galra. Half-breeds like me are not treated well by the Galra.”

Keith took a deep breath and looked away, not wanting to see Shiro’s reaction to his next words.

"The Galra are a warrior race. Combat is a way of life here, the way of honour, and our philosophy is ‘Victory or Death’. ‘Vrepit sa’ is far more recent, but nevertheless it is the culmination of ‘Victory or Death’ in its own way.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow, a gesture for him to continue.

He sighed in defeat. “The term comes from the day of the attacks all those months ago. I didn’t tell you all everything about the attack here, only what I believed to be relevant, but the day it happened was to be the day of my coronation as my grandfather’s heir and Crown Prince of the Empire.”

“Your coronation… it was your day of birth, wasn’t it?”

Keith nodded.

“My grandfather wished for me to stand beside him, and accept my place as his heir. He may not have cared for me, but he was wise enough to accept that an heir after so long would only make the Empire stronger.”

Keith smiled grimly. 

“I disagreed. I’d given him enough, I would not give him anything else. I’ve never wanted to rule. All I wanted to do was fly.” His smile turned bitter. “The irony of it is that I ended up Emperor anyway.”

Shiro looked sad for him, but he’d had time to accept it.

“He was used to me rebelling, but this time he would not accept it. So he locked me in my quarters and told me he would only let me out if I went through with the coronation.”

“You escaped,” Shiro said. It wasn’t a question.

Keith inclined his head. “I watched the events proceeding from my ship as it was broadcasted, ready to be dragged back kicking and screaming. But then the explosion came and he was right in the center of it. My disobedience saved my life.”

Of course, the death of the emperor was enough to destabilize the entire Empire but the attackers wanted more. They wanted the Empire itself. And the easiest way to do that was to conquer the Imperial City, Draal. 

Somehow the attackers had allied with the remains of the warring clans of Daibazaal and used them as an army. The Imperial City, one that had never been breached before, fell before them. He could have run then, he supposed, but his people were still there. He’d never wanted to rule but he had a responsibility to them and Keith was no coward.

As the days passed, most of the planet had fallen to the rebel force but then he’d come up with a plan to end them by striking at the very heart of the enemy. A killing strike, delivered by forming a phalanx of warriors. It was dangerous, but they succeeded and took back the capital, and with more effort, they managed to take back Daibazaal. 

With the planet reclaimed, all of Daibazaal celebrated. Keith was honoured for his plan and his choice to sacrifice himself. 

“To remember that day, when Daibazaal was conquered and later taken back, they decided to commemorate the event. They’d named that critical action of the plan ‘The Killing Thrust’ or Vrepit Sa, seeing it as the embodiment of Galran honour. As a sign of respect, they adopted the phrase as a reminder of that day.

Keith flexed his wrist, before clenching his hand into a fist. “I was crowned Emperor a few days later, and after that, it became a sign of respect to me as well.”

Shiro laid a hand on his, and it shocked him out of his sinking mood. He hadn’t expected to feel metal though, and he looked at Shiro in question. 

Shiro jerked his hand away, but before he could, Keith grabbed it, not sure why Shiro was pulling away, but not wanting it to happen. 

“It happened a little while before the attack on Altea,” Shiro admitted, shamefaced, “I was captured for a year by these… people, I don’t really remember that year, but when I escaped, I’d lost my arm and so much had changed.”

Keith’s eyes wandered over the white in Shiro’s hair, and the scar on his nose, and Shiro caught the motion, giving a bitter laugh. “Yeah, that’s when I got the scar and when my hair changed.”

“This,” Keith said fiercely, squeezing Shiro’s arm, making sure it was the metal one, “doesn’t change you.”

“Are you sure?” Shiro’s smile held no amusement, but it did have some concern. “Time’s passed, and things change, Keith.”

“I know you,” Keith said flatly. “No matter how much time has passed, or whatever you think has changed you, I know you. And if you really think you’ve changed so much that I don’t anymore, then I want to know the person you are now.”

“Keith… Thank you,” Shiro said.  _ For everything _ , his eyes implied.

They talked some more about the logistics of Shiro’s stay, while Shiro shared what he knew about what happened on Altea. It was late when they stopped, and knowing that he would have a lot of work to finish in the morning had Keith stopping their talk sooner than he’d have preferred otherwise.

Their last talk fresh in his mind, instead of heading towards the rooms created specifically to house diplomats and other dignitaries, Keith made an impulsive decision to escort Shiro to rooms in his own personal wing.

He would be hard-pressed to answer if anyone asked him why, but he just wanted to keep Shiro close.

“So when will you show me around your palace?” Shiro teased languidly. He’d loosened up as the night went on, even if his guard was up now that they’d left his study.

“Tomorrow,” he promised. “I’ll show you everything.”

  


*****

  


When the next morning came, he found himself waiting outside Shiro’s door, but it turned out that he wouldn’t have to wait for long because Shiro was already ready when he came inside, counting off the last of his push-ups.

He’d raised an eyebrow at Shiro but Shiro only shrugged at him and explained that routine helped him for the most part.

As they walked through the palace corridors, Keith was struck by a memory of Shiro dragging him all over the place when they were younger–not that he’d needed to be dragged, always happy to explore with Shiro like they’d always dreamed– and found himself wanting to repay the favour.

He brought Shiro to the dining hall first, pointing at everything else along the way. They had a quick meal before he dragged Shiro to one of the main attractions and also one of his favourite rooms: the library.

Shiro looked impressed by the sheer size of it. Though holopads were quite common now, there was something different about being surrounded by books, the smell of bound leather, paper and ink surrounding them.

“What kind of books do Galra keep? Treatises on war and combat handbooks?” Shiro teased.

Keith just walked towards a shelf and took out a book, flipping through it casually.

“Actually, we love stories of love, particularly the epic kind. And the tragic ones. Take this story, a common favourite, of a demigod and his closest companion as they go through trials together, for each other. His companion disguises himself as his lover to protect him, and when he dies, his lover rages through the battlefield in his grief.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow at him, but Keith just passed the book to him, before taking out another one. ”This one is about a great Emperor, whose lover, his General, was so close to him that they would be mistaken for the same person, and when the person was corrected, the Emperor would bid them to be considered one person. When he died, the emperor followed suit, because he could not bear to live without him.”

“I’ll admit that I didn’t expect that.”

Keith smiled at him sardonically. “Surely Altea has its fair share of tragic romances?"

"We do... I was just thinking of one."

"Well?" Keith prompted.

Shiro smiled whimsically. “It’s about a girl, and her dear friend from another realm. They go through numerous adventures together, but they don’t find that out until much later that he isn’t real, you see. But the tragedy of it isn’t that he wasn’t real, because he absolutely was, at least to her. Their love was real. It’s the fact that she had to lose him. That at the end, she had to let him go."

“That is quite sad,” Keith said solemnly.

“It is,” Shiro said. “Which is why I’d like to hear something happy.”

“I don’t know many happy tales–” Keith was about to explain, when he was suddenly reminded of something. “Actually, I’d like to wait to tell you until we reach a certain place, if that’s alright?”

Shiro agreed, leaning against the wall as he waited for Keith. “Why do you like these stories so much?”

“These stories tend to feature grand romantic gestures and outbursts of emotion. There is something powerful about their love, and we are drawn to such emotion. It is the basis of who we are. Strong emotions, strong fixations…” Keith shrugged. “It makes sense if you think about it.”

Shiro looked like he didn’t know what to say.

Keith brightened when he thought of their next destination, brushing off the loaded topic. “Come on, there’s one more place I have to show you, I promise you’ll love it.”

He evaded Shiro’s questions as he led them both towards the one place in the palace that reminded him of Shiro.

Before they went inside, he asked Shiro to close his eyes. Pushing open the doors, he guided Shiro inside.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

Keith’s gaze was fixed on Shiro, to see every bit of his reaction, and Shiro did not disappoint.

The awe and wonder in his eyes made everything seem brighter.

“Keith,” Shiro breathed out. “This is amazing…”

It really was, but Shiro’s expression was even better. The observatory had been built some generations ago by a former emperor for his lover. No expense had been spared, that was for sure. 

The floor itself was an ever-shifting star map that changed with every step they took. The walls were purple and decorated with constellations, with gold windows every few feet. Keith knew for a fact that the room also had an expandable holomap of most of the known universe, but what Keith had in mind was a little more old-fashioned.

“My love for these star-crossed lovers as you say, comes from my belief that it is the journey there that matters. Even if it ends unhappily, they were together and they loved each other. In all my favourites, if they die, they die together.”

"See these stars?"

He pointed the telescope to where two stars were glowing brighter than the others, even separated by a galaxy in between.

"The story is a little sad, but also a little happy, but mostly I like it because it's hopeful. The story behind these stars is one of two lovers who are separated from each other, only allowed to meet once a year. An entire galaxy separates them, but the stars themselves take pity on these lovers and serve as a bridge so they can meet.”

Keith shrugged. "Even after they separate, even though they can never meet for more than one day a year, they meet again. They come back to each other. I admire it…”

“I can see why,” Shiro agreed quietly.

“There are stories behind every one of these stars, grand tales and morals… This story is my favourite though.”

Shiro flipped open the book, thumbing through it before he glanced at Keith. “You can read it if you want.”

“Thanks,” Shiro answered.

But there was still a hint of longing in Shiro’s eyes, and he could guess at the reason. It was something they both shared. Keith added, “You’re welcome to come here anytime too.”

Shiro took another look at the stars before his gaze fell squarely on Keith’s face. “Thank you,” Shiro whispered.

“Unfortunately, I do have some matters to attend to now, so I’ll have to leave you here–”

“No, I’d like to come with you. I’ll come back another time, I know I will, but we have a job to do now.”

“Of course.”

Keith led Shiro back to the official wing of the palace, pointing out everything he hadn’t managed to show Shiro yet when he realized that there was someone watching them.

He scanned the area before finally seeing who it was. Throk, one of his grandfather’s commanders, was staring straight at them.

He hid his surprise. Throk was stationed in an outpost quite a bit further than Daibazaal. So why was he here now?

“Commander Throk,” Keith greeted. 

“Emperor–” Throk inclined his head. “My lord, what is  _ he _ doing here?” he asked, referring to Shiro, who had come to a stop right beside him.

“Queen Allura has sent him as an ambassador after the signing of the alliance, of course.” 

Throk could not hide his expression of distaste before Keith caught it.

Keith’s grin turned sharp. “I’m sure the rest of the Commanders on-base will find out soon enough.”

“Of course, my lord. Vrepit sa!” he saluted.

Keith nodded in acknowledgement before Throk turned on his heel and left.

“Who was that?” Shiro whispered next to him. 

“Commander Throk. He used to be one of my grandfather’s favoured but fell out of favour a few years ago. I had to deal with him a few times before becoming Emperor, I didn’t like him much. He was–” Keith searched for a word ”–too ambitious.”

“I see. Do you suspect him?”

Keith thought about it for a second. “I don’t  _ not _ suspect him.”

“Then I believe it’s my cue to see what Commander Throk is up to.”

“Stay safe. Don’t let him catch you. You can find me in my study if you need me.”

“Yes, sir,” Shiro saluted him before following behind Throk subtly.

Keith’s eyes narrowed at him, sensing some mockery. 

“Dismissed,” he growled, to hide the growing laugh from whoever might still be watching them.

  


*****

  


Hours later, he heard a knock on the door and called out, "Enter!".

Fighting the battle to keep from rubbing at his eyes in consternation, he looked up in time to see Shiro quietly entering his study.

"I followed Throk around for a bit. He met with someone called Councillor Plyrox at the entrance hall. Do you know him?”

“Councilor Plyrox? Yes, he’s on my council. I’d be very curious to know what they were discussing.”

“I may have positioned myself just right to hear their conversation. Not that I was eavesdropping of course, anyone there could tell you that I was very absorbed by the conversation I was having with a guard.”

“Of course you were.”

Shiro grew serious again. “I couldn't hear much, but I did hear something about you and suspecting something and having to move up the schedule.They looked troubled about something."

"The Councillor... then this goes even deeper than I thought. It's not a guarantee that he was the one responsible of course, but I'll admit the timing is suspicious.” Keith groaned, giving in to the urge to bury his head in his hands for once. “Even after this is over, I'm going to have to turn over my entire council and my commanders to see if anyone is a traitor.”

He began rubbing at the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Keep snooping about. With any luck, you'll catch them doing something incriminating and we'll be able to tell the rest of them that we have something. It's too soon to tell Allura when we have nothing but vague suspicions.”

Shiro inclined his head before changing the topic.

“Now, you should get some rest before you work yourself into exhaustion. I know you're frustrated about this, but you can't forget to take care of yourself.”

“Why, Shirogane, I thought you were only my fake bodyguard. So concerned about my body now?”

“I take my fake bodyguard duties very seriously.”

Keith yawned, unable to stop himself. “I suppose I'll listen to you just this once then.”

When they were out the doors, he straightened, losing any trace of exhaustion. He had no trouble trusting Shiro with his more vulnerable side, but as emperor, he needed to project his strength. 

Shiro kept an eye on their surroundings, constantly scanning for a threat and Keith wanted to laugh, even if it also made him feel warm inside.

He felt protected. Safe. Was this what it would be like to have Shiro as his actual bodyguard?

Shiro left him with a quiet good night and shoulder clasp.

  


*****

  


After two weeks of snooping, Shiro had caught Throk in meetings with other members of the council, as well as some other commanders. Some of it could be passed off as him doing his duties, but Keith had a growing suspicion that he was involved.

When Allura called for another meeting, they were ready.

Hunk, Allura and Lance explained their efforts to root out the traitors in their own courts. Pidge and Hunk had also worked together to find if there were any technological trails to their enemy.

Finally, it was time for Keith and Shiro to explain what they had found.

“My grip on the throne is uncontested, true, but it is detested by people who feel that a full Galra would be more deserving of the throne. I don’t know how your people treat half-breeds but Galra… aren’t very fond of us. Should I die or be dethroned, it would achieve the same thing. An opportunity for the throne.

“I have suspicions about one of my commanders. He does not like me and he seems to be having more than a few clandestine meetings with my council members–”

He was interrupted when the castle’s alarms started blaring, and it began to shake before the ship’s particle barrier was activated.

They were being attacked by a fleet of ships. 

They all met each other’s eyes, an understanding beginning to form.

“This is our first meeting since we agreed to the alliance. Any spies would know that,” Lance said slowly.

“Are they trying to kill us to cover up what they did?” Hunk fretted.

Allura activated the bridge and began firing back at them. “Not if I have anything to say about it. Now get to your ships, we’ll support you from back here.” 

They all set out to do as she said. Keith was just thankful that he’d come on his own personal fighter. 

It was also, he noted, an opportunity to observe the people he’d made an alliance with. He hadn’t missed the fact that Shiro had joined them, rather than remaining in the castle, but then again, he’d always known Shiro was a great pilot.

He shot up into the sky with a smile on his face. Some might call him crazy for it but fighting someone who was trying to kill him still easier than diplomacy most of the time.

He cut down a dozen fighters as he shot through them in a spiralling pattern. Itt was his first time flying in front of Shiro for so long, Keith couldn’t hold back the urge to show off a little. He wasn’t expecting Shiro to match him in every way, but he bit back a smile at the sound of Shiro’s delighted laugh.

“Yes, yes, we can all see that the two of you are just as bad as the other! I hope you won’t be pulling such tricks often, Commander Shirogane,” Allura said, trying to sound stern, as she observed their flying.

Waves of fighters were blasting fire at the castle, trying to weaken the particle barrier, but now that the team had all flown free of the protective barrier, they had become targets too.

Shiro easily assigned them to specific sections, while Keith explained what they were supposed to do. Somehow he’d gotten stuck with Lance on his tail but he did his best to ignore Lance’s chatter as he shot down anyone that came near the castle.

At some point they’d both locked onto the same target and fought over it before Shiro came in and knocked them apart.

Allura had had to come in with a blast that saved them both in the nick of time and he thanked her while rolling his eyes at Lance’s flirty reply.

As the crowd of fighters thinned out, Keith realized that he recognized the ships attacking them.

“These are Galra ships,” he notified the rest of the team, before his eyes narrowed, “but I didn’t authorize any kind of attacks in this area.” And it wasn’t close enough to one of their territories that they would be guarding something, he knew.

He had a sinking feeling he knew just who was behind this attack, and possibly the ones that happened before now.

Hunk had sounded fairly nervous about fighting but he had some interesting maneuvers; Keith had particularly enjoyed how Hunk had bulldozed down several ships in one go. 

Pidge was hacking into the enemy’s mainframe. He noted with irony that it was technically  _ his _ mainframe she was hacking, but as he didn’t appreciate his own people trying to kill him, he felt no remorse for telling Pidge certain things she could adjust to make things harder for them.

Shiro was the real star though. He’d taken down so many of them that it gave a part of Keith heavy satisfaction at how strong he was.

As they stared at the wreckage that was all that remained of their enemy, Lance was the first one to laugh.

“We make a pretty good team.”

Shiro’s ship came to a stop beside Keith’s, and Keith looked at it fondly for a moment before he replied, “I guess we do.”

They returned to the castle to continue their discussion.

After Pidge hacked into the ship’s system and sent the data over to him, it confirmed his suspicions that the ships were under Throk’s command. Throk being behind one attack, while not a confirmation that he’d been behind the rest of the attacks on their planets, was certainly enough to be suspicious. 

He informed them of his suspicions and they considered their next move.

“So what do we do now?”

“It hasn’t been long since we formed the alliance and he was already careless enough to attack us...” Lance offered.

Pidge snorted. “His mistake, I think.”

Keith crossed his arms and leaned against his station. “I have the feeling that it’s a waiting game at this point, and he’ll make a move soon.“

  


*****

  


Keith was radiating fury the entire way back to Daibazaal with Shiro. Luckily, Shiro didn’t try to talk to him about it, only offering a comforting hand on his shoulder when he needed it.

It was one thing to suspect that someone was betraying you, and another thing to  _ know _ it.

How long had this been going on? How many more traitors would this conspiracy uncover?

He’d known people under Throk’s command, talked to them, liked them even. How many of them had he just killed? How many more would die later?

Betrayal was something he just couldn’t wrap his head around.

He despised traitors, and he wasn’t alone in that feeling. Despite Galra preference for combat as a way of life, they did have a sense of honour. Most Galra were very honest and blunt about their feelings, and liars were seen as untrustworthy. Traitors were even worse.

It was the source of the rift between the Galra and the Alteans. 

As peacekeepers and diplomats, Alteans were accustomed to lying and smoothing things over to keep the peace, and everything about the Galra rebelled against the thought of it.

There would be no mercy for Throk now though.

His eyes never left Shiro as they walked through the palace courtyard. 

He was thankful for the last two weeks. Despite the very probable threat to his life, Shiro’s presence had made them some of the best times he’s had in so long. 

So when Shiro stopped in the middle of his sentence, he knew something was wrong. He still hadn’t expected Shiro’s arm pushing him away, and fell to the ground with a loud thud. 

“Shiro! What’s wrong?”

With a quick look at Shiro, he realized what had actually happened. Due to his preoccupation with Shiro, he hadn’t noticed the arrow aiming for his head. But Shiro had.

He noticed with a grimace that the arrow was still stuck in Shiro’s left shoulder. 

Shiro gritted his teeth. “Assassin,” he grunted out. Shiro pointed out where the arrow had come from.“Go. I’ll be fine! Go!”

Keith couldn’t help looking back at Shiro as he ran towards the assassin. Shiro’s face was tight with pain, even as people descended on him to help.

Suspicions were alight in his mind, especially at the use of arrows. A bow and arrow was not a typical Galra weapon, not at all, so the fact that someone was trying to assassinate him with weapons like that was a surprise.

The rage he felt at Shiro getting hurt drove him to move faster. The assassin may have been fast, but Keith knew the palace better than anyone else. Especially the exits. He’d spent enough time escaping through them after all.

Cutting through the palace with shortcuts he barely remembered anymore, he was rewarded by his efforts when he got to the exit first.

Moments later, the hooded assassin arrived in a panic.

Keith wasted no time engaging with the assassin, pushing harder when he brought out a dagger from underneath his cloak. The assassin may have been practiced, but Keith was the best for a reason, so it took only a few swings with his sword before the assassin was backed up against the wall with the end of Keith’s blade pointed directly at his neck.

Keith pulled his hood down aggressively, baring his teeth at the man when he tried to fight back. It was a second before he realized that his captive was  _ Altean _ , confirming his earlier suspicions. He’d recognized the bow and arrow as distinctly Altean weapons, and using Altean weapons to kill the half-Altean Galra emperor was an insult of some kind, he was sure of that.

He dragged the assassin down to the cells after knocking him out, not bothering to be gentle. He didn’t care much for the attempt on his own life, but this man had injured Shiro, and that was unacceptable.

The only reason he wouldn’t begin the interrogation now was that he wanted to make sure that Shiro was alright first. Once he had, then he could take his time with the assassin.

Maybe it would be safer to delay the inevitable confrontation, but he just wanted to get it over with.

If Throk really was behind all this, he would regret it, Keith would make sure of that.

  


*****

  


He didn’t know if he was giving Throk too much credit, but he’d expected Throk’s plans to be more complex than this.

The assassin had broken easily under interrogation, telling them everything he knew. Even if it wasn’t much, it was still enough to confirm Throk as the leader. 

most importantly, the assassin knew the location of a base. The  _ only _ base as far as he knew. Which could mean important documents but more importantly, the assassin had recalled seeing  _ prisoners _ there.

Even though he hesitated to involve the others so soon after they’d just met up, this discovery had him contacting Pidge.

She was grumpy when she picked up, telling him that he’d interrupted something important, but at his news, all her exhaustion faded away.

She promised that she would be on Daibazaal by the next day at latest.

He felt satisfied with that, but then a second thought, and Shiro’s face in his mind telling him that he should work with the others, he contacted Allura and told her, asking her to contact the others. He added that they were welcome on Daibazaal, and that he wanted to finish this soon.

He spent the hours waiting for them by Shiro’s bedside, doing his paperwork and monitoring Shiro’s condition. 

As it turned out, the poison on the arrow was native to Daibazaal, and Alteans were particularly susceptible to it. Even half-Alteans.

It would have been a slow and painful way for him to die, and he found himself resenting every single moment Shiro spent in pain because of Throk’s schemes. Luckily, the antidote hadn’t been hard to procure, but Keith would have done anything to save Shiro’s life.

Pidge burst into the room like a hurricane, startling him and causing Shiro to shift for a few moments before settling again. He hushed her to stop her from making any more noise and waking Shiro, directing her to the pages of information he’d gotten from the assassin and written down while waiting for her.

She settled with a huff, before quietly asking what happened to Shiro.

He explained it to her, fists clenched the entire time. It was all too easy to imagine how things could have ended differently. He’d definitely have preferred being the one confined to the bed rather than have Shiro in pain like this.

She did not react well to that. “Shiro saving you was his choice. You should respect that.”

She continued berating him, all in the quietest yet sternest voice he had ever heard, so he couldn’t even hush her for being loud. 

“I know that,” he replied helplessly. “I just don’t want him to be injured because of me.”

It should have been him. And finding out that Shiro had nearly died several times on the way to the medical room as he chased after the assassin had made him feel even guiltier.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “With your help, I’m one step closer to finding my family.”

They both went back to their own work as they waited for the others to arrive.

He told Allura about the Altean assassin as soon as she arrived. She reacted with disgust at the news, and concern over Shiro’s condition. It was a relief to be able to tell her that Shiro would hopefully recover soon.

The others arrived soon afterwards and Keith was quick to brief them. He’d already requisitioned a hovercraft to take them to the location of the base so they were one step closer to the end of everything.

He was loath to leave Shiro but he had to follow through on his duty, so he assigned his most trusted guard to the doors, ordering him to guard Shiro with his life.

The journey felt long, even though it only took half an hour at most. The others’ conversation rattled around his brain as he tried to clear his mind.

They took out the guards in the front, carefully going through the building and knocking anyone there unconscious. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be many people there. There were, however, a lot of projects lying around the room; some metal structures and test areas, all recently used.

When they were almost about to give up and think that the prisoners had been transferred to another base that the assassin didn’t know about, Keith heard some noise coming from below.

Upon closer inspection, they’d missed a door leading down to the basement area.

Keith took the lead, his torch lighting the way.

When he saw the cell containing two prisoners, he couldn’t contain a laugh of relief. He didn’t recognize them, but there was no mistaking the familial resemblance between them and Pidge.

“Pidge! We found them!” he called out.

Pidge raced down, nearly knocking everyone else to the side. She leaned against the forcefield separating them.

“Matt? Dad?” He could hear the tears in her voice.

“Katie? Is that you?” The hope on their faces was almost too much to bear.

As soon as Hunk was done dismantling the forcefield, she and her dad and brother were embracing, looking like they’d never let each other go.

Keith kept watch on the doors, not wanting to intrude on Pidge’s special moment.

“Come on, let’s get you guys out of here,” she said, before blasting the control panel.

  


*****

  


Matt and Sam Holt were both injured and exhausted after their rescue, but a few words with Matt were more than enough to confirm that Throk hadn’t just been involved in the operation, he’d been at the head of it.

It was disappointing to hear how many of his council and his commanders had been involved but he couldn’t honestly say he hadn’t been expecting it. There were few he considered trustworthy now. 

He did feel satisfaction at the thought that once he’d removed all the traitors, he could fill those positions with people he trusted. He already had some in mind.

Keith had insisted on housing his team, and of course, Pidge’s family, as reparations for what had been done to them and to give them time to heal.

He waited, just a few days to see what Throk would do, and he could see Throk looking increasingly distressed. It gave him a great amount of pleasure to see Throk panicking every time he looked at Keith. They hadn’t bothered to hide what they’d done to the base and there was no doubt that Keith knew something about the incident.

Finally, the moment Shiro had recovered enough, Keith found that he had no more patience left, so he called for a meeting with his commanders.

“I’ve just come by the knowledge that one of us is a  _ traitor _ .”

The tension in the room skyrocketed. He would have drawn it out even more but it was best to get it over with. Throk had to be made an example of, proof that he wasn’t soft or weak like he knew they thought he was.

“Commander Throk,” he growled.

Throk froze in his seat.

“You are charged with treason, acts of war against now allied nations, failure to comply with imperial orders, and accessory to regicide. I’d ask how you plead, but you won’t even get that mercy from me. Guards, take him away,” he ordered.

The guards were halfway done dragging him out the door when he started struggling and protesting his innocence.

Keith turned back to the rest of the commanders, his eyes cold.

“Call me soft behind my backs if you want. I don’t care. Betrayal is a crime of the highest order, against the ways of Galra! So whisper behind my back if you wish. If you betray me, or the Empire, you will answer for your crimes.” He glared at them, trying to impart the message as clearly as he could.

“Vrepit sa!” they saluted.

  


*****

  


“Everything would have worked according to plan, if it hadn’t been for you!” Throk spat at him as he was led to his cell after his interrogation.

Keith didn’t try to hide his satisfaction from Throk. Throk’s eyes narrowed and a hateful look took over his face.

“Your new allies, the  _ Altean _ , they think you’re different. You’re not. Not good enough to be Galra, and not good enough for them either. They’ll see it someday.”

Keith tensed at his words before he forced himself to let it go. “They might see it someday,” he said coolly, “but you definitely won’t.”

Throk’s words still echoed in his mind though, even hours after he’d left. The thoughts lingered as he discussed the matter of Throk's fate with his team.

Even though Throk had done massive damage to them, he couldn't just hand Throk over to them, especially given Throk's role in the death of the emperor. It wouldn’t have been the first time the throne had been taken by blood and force, but Throk had ultimately failed and even dishonoured the Galra by sneaking about, rather than demanding a blood duel. He couldn’t be seen not taking action.

“I would love to allow all of you to enact your own justice on him and his conspirators but that is sadly impossible,” Keith explained.

“What would happen if he were to face your justice for his crimes?” Allura questioned.

Keith’s face darkened. He had the names of a dozen more traitors that he still had to deal with but Throk was the linchpin. “He would be shamed before the community, his accomplishments stricken from the records and death would come quickly after that. He would then, of course, be given a traitor's burial.”

“A traitor's burial? What is the difference between that and a normal burial?”

“I don’t know what your beliefs regarding the afterlife are, but Galra… we believe that when we die, we return to the stars to join our ancestors. ‘From ashes we are born, and to ash we will return’,” he quoted. “So our bodies are cremated when we die, so that our ashes are free to join the sky. Burial means separation from our families, so that we may never see them again. Only a traitor is buried in such a way.”

Pidge was the only one to look pleased at Throk’s end, but there was satisfaction on everyone’s face at the resolution of the crimes that had been committed against them.

  


*****

  


When the night fell, Keith tried to sleep but Throk’s words were still haunting him. He knew he wouldn’t get any sleep like that, so he sought out Shiro, for comfort or for condemnation he still didn’t know.

There was no response to his knocks, and Keith realized it was probably because Shiro hadn’t been released by the medics yet.

He almost left then but something made him come in anyway. He’d normally never invade Shiro’s privacy like that but his thoughts were still turbulent and it was better than seeking out Shiro when he should have been resting anyway.

Keith took a seat on the sofa, thoughts spinning wildly, with his head in his hands.

He didn’t like torture. He hadn’t liked a lot of the things he had done in the army, but that hadn’t stopped him though. 

Throk was right. 

He pretended to be better, more merciful than other Galra. But there was blood on his hands too. He’d justified his actions to himself, that he didn’t want to, that he wasn’t this kind of person, but intent meant nothing when his actions said otherwise.

He was just like Throk. Except Throk hadn’t pretended he was anything but what he was.

Keith’s head jerked up when the door opened without warning, revealing Shiro. He’d been so deep in self-recrimination he hadn’t heard the steps coming from outside. 

He was about to jump up and apologize for intruding when Shiro held up a hand and stopped him, watching him with keen eyes. Keith looked away, hating the guilt he felt and how it just didn’t feel like enough.

Shiro just stood there patiently, waiting for him to say what he needed to.

It felt like a challenge, one he couldn’t turn down without revealing how weak he really was. Shiro had always been the best person he ever knew and to confess just how far he’d fallen to Shiro, to see the disappointment in his eyes, it hurt too much to think of.

Shiro was used to all manner of mistakes from him, their first meeting being only one example out of many, but stealing a hoverbike didn’t compare to everything he’d done since then.

“I’ve done many things, Shiro. Things I’m not sure can be forgiven,”

Shiro’s eyes softened. “Keith. I know who you are, and you’re not a bad person.”

“You only know who I was as a child. I’ve done unforgivable things since then.”

“Keith…”

“I’ve had a role in expanding the Galra Empire, and believe me, it came with a high cost. I’ve killed so many...”

He'd tried to rebel at first, showing mercy when he could, trying to limit the loss of life as much as he could. But what change had he really made in the long run? 

“I act like I’m different from them, but really, I’m no better.”

“I won’t leave you for this,” Shiro said fiercely. 

Keith felt hopeless. “I’m not meant for this, Shiro. You should give up on me now.”

It would hurt less. No, that was a lie. It would hurt. But it would hurt even more if Shiro left him later when he finally got enough of Keith. At least now he was prepared for it.

“I will never give up on you, but more importantly, you can’t give up on yourself. If you want to make things better, do it. Be better. If you regret what you’ve done, then make amends. And I’ll be by your side through it all.”

Shiro held out his hand in a move so reminiscent of their first meeting that Keith froze as he stared at it, feeling an ache in his chest.

“Sometimes, we all need a hand, remember?”

Keith took it, the coolness of Shiro’s hand now a striking contrast to how warm it had been before, but it wasn’t bad. Shiro used the grip to pull Keith up, into a hug and he sunk into it gladly. 

He would always be grateful for Shiro’s trust and support.

  


*****

  


After the trial and Throk’s execution, the others began preparing to leave for their own homeworlds.

They all gathered on the courtyard where their ships were waiting.

He remembered how he’d felt his first time meeting them, how doubtful he’d been, but he was starting to come around to the idea of having a team. Bickering and loud arguments and all.

“We did it,” Shiro said, looking out to the horizon.

“We did,” Keith said. “So what do we do now?”

“It’s over…” Hunk said, “what’s left for us to do but go back to our homes?”

Pidge crossed her arms but her face was softer than usual when she said, “We’re done here.”

“Yeah, but we made a pretty good team while it lasted, right?” Lance said wistfully.

“Our alliance still stands, so this won’t be the end of us working together,” Allura said.

Keith didn’t think it was over. There was bound to be more trouble in the future, and maybe it would lead to them coming together again. He was almost looking forward to it.

Shiro just smiled and said, “I think I speak for all of us when I say this is only just beginning.”

  
  



	3. as many times as it takes

Weeks had passed since Keith had heard from the others. 

Somehow the short amount of time they’d spent with each other had been enough for him to start missing them, even the bickering and the arguments. But most of all, he missed Shiro. He’d kept up regular contact with Shiro but it still wasn’t the same as the weeks Shiro had spent at Daibazaal. 

So when he’d gotten a call from Hunk, asking for help, he’d jumped at the chance. 

Apparently, with the chaos that had been caused after the attack on Rygnarath, they’d been rather lax with their Balmera-guarding duties. When Hunk had checked on the Balmera as was their custom, he’d almost died at the hands of rogue invaders who were draining the Balmera dry.  Luckily, he was saved by the Balmerans.

“I ended up crashing into the Balmera, and I met this Balmeran named Shay who helped me repair my ship,” Hunk described, gesturing wildly. “The Balmerans welcomed me, and told me about the invaders who attacked me. They were taking advantage of the Balmera, stealing all the crystals and draining it more and more. The Balmera would die soon if they kept it up.”

By the end of his explanation, Hunk had grown somber and restrained.

“There were too many of them for me to have taken them on my own, and I didn’t want to risk them hurting Shay or the rest of the Balmerans so I left before they could find me.”

“Hunk, do you remember anything about the invaders, like how many of them there were, where their base was?” Keith asked.

“Shay showed me the base they have, it’s guarded pretty heavily but if we cause enough of a ruckus, they’ll leave to find us,” Hunk answered. 

“Alright, Keith and I will cause the distraction and provide air support, hopefully taking most of them out when they come after us. Lance, you provide cover for Hunk and Allura while they take over the base. Pidge, I need you to get in their systems, get what you need and then destroy it, alright?” Shiro said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Lance replied.

“I’m in,” Pidge said.

Hunk just nodded, unusually serious for such a cheerful guy. He seemed to be taking it very personally. “Thanks. I didn’t want to ask you guys to help with my problems but I couldn’t just leave them all to suffer.”

“It’s alright, Hunk. We’ll make sure they leave the Balmera and that no one will try to take advantage of them again,” Allura assured.

They set a course for the Balmera. Once they were close enough, they got ready in their ships to complete phase one of the plan.

Hunk’s predictions came true. As soon as Keith and Shiro flew out above the base, the invaders came rushing out to protect their resource from getting hijacked. A few dozen fighters joined them in the air, and Keith aimed a smirk at Shiro over the comms.

“Ready to take them on a wild ride, old timer?”

Shiro’s ship tipped towards him in reply. “Only if you are, hotshot.”

His fighting style could only be called ‘strike hard and strike fast’ and he couldn’t wait to see how Shiro’s had evolved over the years. 

He shot forward through the enemy fighters, grinning when half of them took the bait and followed him, leaving the base behind.

A quick look behind showed him that Shiro had cottoned on to his plan and decided to roll with it, taking the other half with him to the other side.

“Divide and conquer?” Shiro’s voice said over the comms.

“You know it,” Keith said, grinning as he narrowly avoided a blast that almost took out his left wing.

Once he’d led them far enough away from the base, he opened fire.

Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes as one of his blasts took out three enemy ships at once, the rockpile crumbling from the force sending dust everywhere.

“Don’t hit the Balmera! You’re actually hurting it!” Hunk said in a panic.

Keith’s eyes narrowed as he registered his mistake, swearing as he dived to avoid the ships now coming at his rear. “Affirmative.”

He took care to aim more carefully after that. 

One, two, three, four– five. His eyes narrowed when he spotted five ships targeting Shiro from the back while he was dealing with a full frontal assault.

“You’ve got incoming,” Keith warned Shiro as he led his tails right into one of the ships locked on Shiro, before abruptly pulling up high to steer clear of the explosion.

He and Shiro managed to take out even more ships by pulling even more complicated air tricks and letting the enemy fighters fly into each other. They’d always worked well together, but flying with Shiro now was on a whole new level.

Hunk and Allura were making short work of the invaders still inside the base, and he could hear Pidge cackling as she wreaked havoc on their systems. To his surprise, Lance had actually managed to help him and Shiro with their load, and Keith took careful note of his exceptional aim.

When the last of them had been cut down and the remaining survivors bound, they managed to convince the Balmerans that it was safe to venture out from their caves.

Hunk went through the crowd and came back with a female Balmeran, holding her hand and gesturing to her as he introduced her as Shay, the one who’d helped with his ship and informed him of the problem with the Balmera.

Keith could see that he was fairly enamoured with her, and she seemed to reciprocate.

Now that the fight was over, the adrenaline coursing through his body was replaced by a high he’d never felt before. It was similar to how he felt during combat, or flying, but better somehow. 

He’d been fighting, he realized, fighting and flying, but it was to save someone else. He’d helped people today, and it made all the difference.

He looked out to the Balmera, watching the sunrise. The orange pink hues over the glowing gold of the healing Balmera made for a beautiful sight.

The dawn of a new day.

  


*****

  


The request for help from Hunk was only the beginning. Now that they’d done it, it felt wrong to not notice the problems going around and refuse to do anything to help. So they did.

Requests for help, distress calls, issues with space pirates and smugglers, they helped with it all. Mission after mission after mission came their way, and Keith loved it. He loved feeling like he was doing something, like he was making the universe better through his own efforts and he liked saving people.

However, a certain mission had Keith quickly regretting everything that had led to him being in this situation.

He was half supporting half carrying Shiro, Shiro's arm over his shoulders as they painstakingly trudged towards shelter. He pointedly ignored the chill of Shiro's metal arm even as it stung his skin.

It would be their luck to walk straight into a blizzard after completing their mission, given that Shiro was already injured.

He caught Shiro as Shiro stumbled over something.

"Thanks, Keith. You're very– very strong," Shiro noted shakily.

Keith hummed in response.

Shiro was still trying to project a strong facade, ignoring his injuries.

"Guess you're not enjoying this mission?"

"What gave you that impression?" Keith huffed. "It's not like Galra aren't desert creatures or anything, or that I've never been in a climate colder than Altea, so I’m utterly useless in this kind of weather."

“Cheer up, there’s a blizzard coming soon, now that would really ruin your day,” Shiro teased. “Especially if you had to leave me here to get rid of my dead weight so you could find shelter more easily.”

“Stop talking like that,” he huffed. He hated how near-death situations always brought out Shiro’s morbid sense of humour. “You’re going to make it.” He’d make sure of it himself, damn it. 

Despite the endless expanse of white around them, Keith's eyes managed to catch a glimpse of something different. It looked like a cave opening. “Stupid smugglers, couldn’t they have chosen somewhere more temperate for a base?” he grumbled.

They needed shelter before the blizzard got any worse and before they managed to catch frostbite. Any longer and it would be even odds which would kill them first.

“Now you’re starting to sound like Lance,” Shiro said, sounding amused.

He huffed again. As they got closer, it did look more and more like a cave.

"Shiro, I can see a cave up ahead. We're going to have to quicken our pace to reach it before the storm gets hard. I know you don't like feeling helpless, but please... let me help you."

Shiro looked up at him for a moment, and Keith felt Shiro’s gaze scouring him down to his bones, before he nodded faintly.

The last of Shiro’s guard went down, and Shiro let his weight collapse fully against Keith.

"Thank you," Keith said. He knew how hard it was for Shiro to let go of his control even a little. He was honoured by the tangible weight of Shiro’s trust in him.

With Keith's direction, they managed to make it to the cave soon enough.

He put Shiro down gently on the floor of the cave, leaving him leaning against the wall as he tried to find anything that could serve as fuel for the fire they needed to build. He found some old logs close to the back of the cave that should work.

He flicked his claws together a few times, creating a spark for the area he'd managed to build. Shiro sighed in relief as he was brought closer to the fire.

Keith tried to contact someone on the comms a few times. "Looks like the blizzard is messing with the connection. We’ll need to stay here until the storm dies out. Maybe I can work something out with the transmitter while we’re stuck here."

He touched Shiro’s forehead, cursing when it was still cold, even though he’d been close to the fire for a while now. 

“You’re still too cold, I’m worried,” Keith said.

“It’s probably the arm. It might be a magical Altean arm but it’s still metal. Makes it harder for me to get warm when it’s leeching all the warmth from me.”

Keith sighed in resignation. There was only one way they could get Shiro’s body temperature up, and keep them both warm enough to last the night.

He started stripping off his armour abruptly.

“Wh–What are you doing?” Shiro asked, sitting up straight. 

“Taking this off so it doesn’t hurt you later,” Keith replied. “We’ll need to sleep together, our shared body warmth should be enough.”

“Oh.”

He shivered from the cold and got closer to Shiro. He laid his hands on Shiro’s chest armour. “Is this alright?” he asked, knowing they didn’t really have much choice, but wanting to give Shiro one anyway.

“Yeah.”

He took of Shiro’s armour more carefully than he did his own, careful to avoid any still healing wounds.

Finally, they were both only in their undersuits. He pressed up against Shiro, leaving his cape on the floor as a cover between them and the rocky cave floor.

“Bare skin would be better, but I think we would both freeze to death if that happened.”

But what a way to go, his mind chimed in.

“K–Keith…” he heard, before Shiro seemed to give up on saying anything.

Shiro’s cape was draped over them, now their only protection against the cold. Keith wanted to offer to stay up as the guard but he knew that whoever tried to get to them would need to traverse the storm first and they would both need their rest.

“Good night, Keith,” Shiro said quietly.

“Good night, Shiro.”

And that was the end of it.

When they woke up, the storm had broken and the comms were working again. They wasted no time hailing Allura and were quickly picked up and led to the medical chambers.

They did not mention their sleeping arrangements, or how when they woke up, they’d been curled up together, Keith with his head on Shiro’s chest and Shiro’s arms wrapped around him.

  


*****

  


Somehow, the night he’d spent in Shiro’s arms had changed something. Keith couldn’t help the longing he felt for something he didn’t understand when he looked at Shiro, so he retreated behind his walls. 

Shiro tried to reach out to him but it only caused him to retreat even more, so by the end of it, he’d started to avoid Shiro. It wasn’t a big deal, up until it was.

When he’d started snapping at the team, he knew they’d noticed. But the pressure kept building up and without Shiro to talk to (hell, Shiro was the problem), eventually he reached the point where he exploded.

Lance was always good at getting under his skin, but with his temper now it didn’t take much for him to rise to Lance’s goading, but when they’d actually started fighting each other, Shiro had to separate them physically.

It resulted in Shiro assigning them both to the same mission, reconnaissance on a planet assumed to be abandoned. He warned them both about their behaviour, telling them to get their act together or they wouldn’t like the consequences and for Keith, every word of his disapproval stung like hell.

Later, Shiro tried to pull him aside and talk to him before they left for the mission, asking him what was wrong, but Keith brushed him off.

It was a short flight to the planet they’d be surveying, but they’d both mutually agreed not to talk to each other unless they had to.

His anger was simmering under his skin, countless frustrations built up so when Lance started talking about something inconsequential but annoying, his tolerance was at an all time low.

"We're on a stealth mission so maybe you could try being quiet for once?" Keith said sharply. They were crouching behind a large rock, having just spotted a ship landing close to them. The objective of the mission was to not get caught so they’d be stuck hiding until it left.   
  
Lance narrowed his eyes at Keith. “I'm getting sick of your attitude,” he retorted. “It's a wonder Allura thought you'd be a good fit for a team, let alone the leader.”

  
“Excuse me?”

  
“You heard me.”

“What is your problem with me?” Lance had been clashing against him from day one and he really wanted to know what he'd done to merit it.

“You act like you’re all that, like you’re above everyone and they just hand stuff to you on a silver platter. They made you leader and you acted like you didn’t even want it. I bet you’ve never had to prove yourself a day in your life.”

That barb actually stung. He'd worked his whole life to be acknowledged by people and for someone to dismiss it so readily made him furious. “You should take a good long look at the mirror then,” Keith replied.

Lance’s glare was hot enough to burn. “I don’t act like that, I’m not you!”

Keith scoffed.

“Like you would know anything about having something to prove!” Lance accused.

Keith’s eyes flashed and he snapped. “I’ve always had something to prove! Shiro was the only person who ever believed in me!”

Keith dropped his head in his hands, feeling like he’d revealed too much. He heard Lance take a few steps closer and hesitate for a few seconds before taking a seat next to him.

“Truce?” Lance offered.

“Truce,” he agreed, raising his head, still looking away from Lance.

“So what’s up with you and Shiro?” Lance said, but there wasn’t any hostility in his voice anymore.

“Nothing,” he said curtly. “Come on, we need to keep moving.”

“Nah, we’re safe here for the moment and that ship over there means we can’t move until it leaves, so talk. You’ve been acting weird for a while now and it’s starting to affect the team,” Lance stated bluntly. 

“There’s nothing wrong,” he tried again.

Lance raised an eyebrow at him and the look on his face said to try harder.

“I just realized some things recently and I thought I needed time and space to process them. But it’s not helping,” he added grouchily.

“So why avoid Shiro? You two have been close since the beginning,” Lance asked. “Unless… Shiro’s a part of the problem.”

Keith didn’t say anything but it was clear that Lance had gotten it right.

“Well, avoiding Shiro definitely isn’t the solution. Sometimes talking about your problems works too,” Lance said dryly.

“You’re hurting him the longer you avoid him, you know,” he persisted.

He’d noticed how Shiro seemed to deflate the more Keith turned him away, but it was distressing to think that he was hurting Shiro.

Nothing was worth Shiro’s pain.

Not even his need to protect himself from getting hurt.

He didn’t want to say it, knowing Lance would ruin it in seconds but Lance had knocked some sense into him and he appreciated that. “You’re right,” he admitted.

“Hah, you actually admitted that I was right!” Lance crowed. “You owe me one!”

He didn’t bother denying it.

Now that they’d come to an understanding of sorts, he felt safe enough to ask Lance about what he’d said earlier. “So you feel like you have something to prove?”

He could practically hear Lance debating whether or not to tell him in his head but in the end he capitulated. “Yeah. Growing up in a family like mine, you learn to be loud to make yourself heard. I love them, but that’s just how it is.”

“Even to the team?” Keith asked after a few moments.

“I mean, yeah… what am I contributing to the team? You guys all have your parts, even you,” Lance snarked, before growing somber, “but I don’t have anything.”

“That’s not true. You talk to people, you get them, their weaknesses, and when you’re in the mind for it, you have pretty good aim,” he said, nudging Lance and gesturing to his sniper rifle. He didn’t mention how quickly Lance had found a weak spot in his armour. “Look, you have a place on the team. No one’s doubting that except you, so maybe you should listen to us when we say it.”

Lance looked at him gratefully. “Thanks, man. Hey, I think we make a pretty good team.”

The sound of the ship’s engines blasting off interrupted them from continuing their little talk.

Keith signalled that he wanted to leave their hiding spot. “You ready?” he mouthed.

“Yeah. Go on, fearless leader, I’ve got your back.”

The rest of the mission went smoothly after they’d reached a new understanding with each other. The others had been surprised when they came back still bantering with each other.

The first thing he did after he got back was find Shiro. The look of hope and relief he received after his request to talk made guilt surge up in his chest, but it made him feel better too. When he looked back before they both left the room to talk, he found Lance watching with a smile and thumbs up, and he had to bite back a smile.

Looks like he did owe Lance one, after all.

  


*****

  


Keith remembered an old combat tutor of his had once thrown up her hands in frustration during a training session. While Keith had been bleeding on the floor from various wounds, sh’d started yelling at him for not knowing when to quit, and that his damn stubbornness would be the death of her.

He remembered how she had berated him, that Victory or Death didn’t mean forging on stupidly or not retreating to fight and win another day. She’d been an atypical Galra, but he’d liked her for it. As much as he liked anyone at that time.

He’d told her after a particularly bad session that it wasn’t pride or shame or even fear that had him coming back for more, even as she beat him to pieces. It was knowing that life went on and he’d have to do it anyway, he might as well save himself the trouble by not running away first.

She’d cuffed him over his head and said it was just one more lesson she’d need to beat into his head.

Years later and holding a hand to his wounded shoulder after a careless mistake, it was apparent that he still hadn’t managed to learn it.

After their mission, they’d all went their separate ways, except for him and Shiro. 

He’d invited Shiro to stay at the palace for the night so they could just spend some time together and Shiro had accepted. But he’d underestimated how much pain he’d be in, even after he’d carefully cleaned the wound out and had to cut the evening short.

Throughout the entire evening, he’d been debating whether or not he should tell Shiro about the wound, but in the end he hadn’t. 

On his way back to his room, he ran into Kolivan, his old commander that he’d moved to replace Throk after his removal. Kolivan had been one person he’d always respected, especially after finding out that he was the leader of the Blades of Marmora, the Elite of the Emperor’s agents.

But the thing about Kolivan was that he never failed to make Keith feel like a child. His look after he came across Keith holding onto his wounded shoulder in the middle of the hallway made Keith feel young and stupid again.

Keith didn’t try to make any excuses, knowing from experience that that would annoy Kolivan more than anything else, 

He just followed quietly as he lectured Keith on the importance of taking care of himself, guarding Keith’s side. Kolivan didn’t ask if he had already cleaned the wound, they’d known each other long enough that he knew Keith would never be so stupid or careless, but he insisted on walking Keith all the way back to his room, and guarding him through the night, just in case. 

He stripped off the rest of his armour and collapsed into his bed. His shoulder ached at even the slightest jostling, and he couldn’t find a comfortable position that didn’t hurt. 

Soon enough, he fell into a fitful sleep but it was restless and his dreams took a darker turn.

He slipped in and out of sleep, dreams and hallucinations twisting together in a morbid vision of reality. 

Keith pleaded with a younger Shiro not to leave him– not again– when Shiro turned into the Shiro he knew now, white hair and scar and all. This Shiro hurled accusations and harsh words at him, each word like a knife to the gut. 

Then Shiro turned to leave him again, like he’d always feared since their reunion, and he could only call out for Shiro, begging him to stay. 

(He should’ve known that it wouldn’t work; begging never does.)

As Shiro left him, a bright light blinded him before dissolving into darkness and he was back in the house he’d lived in with his father before everything. 

He tried reaching out to his father (but no, his father was dead) only to greeted with cryptic words. The room broke down as the fire consumed them both, like it had in his memories, except his father wasn’t going to save him this time.

The soft –cruel– version of his father tried to get him to stay, tempting him with information about his mother, but in a moment of clarity, Keith knew it wasn’t real. 

His father was dead, his mother had left, and there was nothing else to know. “Goodbye, dad.”

He woke to pain and agony coming from his shoulder. Disoriented and confused, he struggled as he heard snippets of conversation, registering that some of the words were coming from Kolivan’s deep voice. 

“–recognize this poison–”

“–greatest hopes and fears–”

“–your friend desperately wants to see you–”

Shiro’s voice had him calming down and the pain faded a little.

“Shiro… Shiro, wait… Don’t leave me, I don’t want to be alone again–” he tried to say, but it didn’t come out the way he intended them to.

He felt the bed shift and seconds later, Shiro was a solid warmth next to him.

“I won’t leave you, Keith.”

Shiro’s hand settled in his hair and after a moment of hesitation, he started stroking it, and Keith felt a purr coming on as he was lulled to sleep by Shiro’s warmth and the gentle motions of his hand.

  


*****

  


Keith had never appreciated how convenient the Castleship was as a base until an attack from a magical alien race had left them stranded in the middle of nowhere with the teludav out of order.

Luckily, Coran was skilled even beyond his advisory duties, also performing as the Castle’s engineer when they needed it. His prognosis was bad: their engine was not working, and most of the teludav lenses had stopped functioning, and they were out of the material they needed to create new ones.

But apparently, Coran even had a solution for that too. He had an Altean weblum tracker that had picked up a weblum’s signature not too far from their position, and Coran was one of the few who knew the scaultrite collection process.

He and Hunk were on their way to the weblum soon enough after a few words of instruction from Coran. The rest of the team was tasked with finding things they could salvage from the castle to repair the engines.

Before they left, Keith shared a hug with Shiro, as per their new tradition now whenever they had to separate. It was only too easy to lose each other now, so little things like this helped to center them.

Keith hadn’t had much opportunity to spend time with Hunk beyond missions; Hunk was usually attached to Lance, and him to Shiro. But he’d learned to appreciate Hunk’s cheerful nature and his surprisingly good instincts when it came to people.

Hunk kept up a bunch of chatter in the beginning, jumping from question to question but he didn’t seem to mind when Keith barely responded. 

He got quiet though as the scanners went off as they approached a part of deep space Keith had never seen before. The closer they got to their destination, the more he could see the remnants of dead planets, eaten by the weblum.

It gave him an eerie feeling.

The uneasy feeling was compounded when the weblum passed them, and he only just realized how humongous it was.

“What was Coran’s rule number one about this thing again?” Hunk asked nervously, flying closer to the weblum.

“I don’t know,” Keith said, not really paying attention to what Hunk was saying, distracted by the weird feeling he got around it.

The weblum opened its mouth and it began to glow; Hunk’s question just registered in Keith’s mind, and he yelled, “Stay away from the face!”

Hunk pulled away from the weblum just in time to avoid the blast.

“Find its blind spot at the back of the neck,” he instructed, shaken by the close call. They landed on the weblum’s massive neck and recalling Coran’s instructions, focused on getting into its stomach.

It was a long journey inside through the gills, and Hunk was freaking out about where they were. 

“We’re in a giant worm’s disgusting stomach, there’s no way to sugarcoat it,” Keith explained curtly. “But I need to be able to count on you. Will you be alright?”

Hunk calmed down a little after Keith’s speech, enough to respond, “I’ll be alright.”

Keith smiled at him. “Besides, no one knows an explosive digestive tract better than you.”

Hunk’s wide eyes and gesturing had him biting back a chuckle as he made a fuss over Keith making a joke.

Once Hunk was comfortable with him, Keith noted that he began asking even more questions than before, many of them about Galra culture and cuisine. It was something he’d picked up about Hunk, that he was a natural born diplomat in a different way than Allura. 

He genuinely cared about the people they saved, and their cultures, and people responded to that.

It was an even longer journey to the third stomach, especially after the weblum’s digestive defences kicked in. Small creatures surrounded them to try and digest them, and after they were overwhelmed, they were forced to dive into the weblum’s stomach acid to escape.

When they finally reached the third stomach, they realized that activating the scaultrite gland via the weblum’s defence mechanisms meant that one of them had to go out and goad it.

In the end, Keith volunteered to fly the ship and distract it, while Hunk harvested the scaultrite.

He narrowly avoided the weblum’s blasts for several long moments, the  _ wrong _ feeling the weblum had given him stronger than ever as he flew around it. He hoped that it would give Hunk enough time to collect the scaultrite. When Hunk called him over the comms to say that it was done, Keith gave a weak cheer and wasted no time picking him up so they could leave.

Keith relaxed when they were far enough from the weblum, happy to be away from it, and that he and Hunk had successfully completed their mission.

When they got back, they found the rest of their team relaxing in the lounge area. Hunk rushed off with Coran to fix the teludav. Keith sat by Shiro’s side and Shiro informed him of the progress they’d made.

It was during a lull in the conversation when he found himself nodding off, no matter how much he wanted to stay awake.

Keith’s head fell on Shiro’s shoulder, and he tried to move, but his head just wouldn’t budge. Shiro was just so warm, he couldn’t help but gravitate towards him. 

He heard something from Shiro about being fine and to just rest but it was all blurry at the point.

The last thing he remembered was Shiro moving his head to his lap and gentle metal fingers carding through his hair and stroking his ears.

He woke up with his head on Shiro’s lap, with Shiro’s cape draped over his body and the others working around the two of them, talking quietly and pointedly not remarking on it.

Warmth suffused his body, different from how Shiro always made him feel, but it was comforting all the same, knowing that he had friends now that he could trust enough to stay asleep in their presence.

  


*****

  


It was nice to have time for dinner with friends. Given that they all had clear schedules for the night, he’d invited the entire team to Daibazaal to dine at his palace.

The formal dining pavilion was a pain to eat in, particularly because he was always interrupted and people tended to seek him out when he dined there, but it was beautiful. The open roof meant it always provided a great view of the sky, even if it was difficult when it rained.

He found some enjoyment in listening to his friends speak, even if he couldn’t stop himself from poking holes in Lance’s overblown descriptions sometimes. It was just how his and Lance’s friendship worked.

"It sounds like a joke! Five rulers, one of them devilishly handsome of course, walk into a bar..." Lance said.

"I'm guessing you're the punchline then," Keith muttered into his drink with a smirk.

“What was that? See if I ever save you when you have Carpaxian smugglers on you again,” Lance huffed.

“They were only on me because you were being reckless and you know that, so you having to save me was your own damn fault.”

“Alright, fine, how about Volota? You were under some pretty heavy fire when I saved you.”

Keith narrowed his eyes at Lance. “First of all,  _ Hunk _ saved me. And even if you share everything with him, that doesn’t count. And if you’re talking about making it a competition, then I beat you, because I saved you from those Lambanite scavengers just now, remember?” 

“I was handling myself,” Lance protested, before turning to Hunk for support. 

Hunk just shrugged. “Sorry man, rules are rules, and you were surrounded before Keith saved you.”

The look of betrayal on Lance’s face was priceless.

Lance looked at Allura, who was smothering a laugh into her hand, and Shiro, whose face clearly said  _ ‘I’m not a part of this and you can’t make me _ ’.

Keith smirked, sensing his victory.

There was a moment of silence before they all burst out laughing.

Lance sulked. “Geeze, why I ever joined up with a band of scoundrels like you is beyond me.”

“Because we’re the only band of scoundrels that would have you,” Pidge teased mercilessly. She stood up, raising her glass in a toast. “To us!”

But then the ground shook and there was a bright light shining overhead. They were all up on their feet in seconds, before the ground rumbled beneath them. “What was that?”

Keith led the way, rushing towards the source of the ground-shaking force.

They stood at the edge of the crater, as close as they dared, and the sight of it was incredible.

It was a giant comet, and he had a feeling that it was going to change everything.

  


*****

  


Keith wasn’t sure what to do about the newest part of Daibazaal’s structure but he rattled off orders automatically to evacuate the citizens, set up a protective field and research area around the crater and do some damage control. He left Allura and the others to work on the actual comet, trusting them to find him if they needed him.

It took him hours before he finally finished and he was exhausted.

“I’ve finished evacuating all Galra citizens near the crater,” he informed Allura, who was studying a sample of the ore taken from the comet intently. “What have you discovered?”

“We’re not sure,” Allura answered, finally leaning back from it. “This comet is like none seen before. It seems to be made of a material that can pass between... realities.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, sages have always theorized that there are many realities stacked side by side with each other. Whole other universes with their histories unbeknownst to us. My father believed it too. But– we never had any proof. Until now.”

Keith’s gaze followed hers, seeing golden lights twinkle as they drifted around inside the protective field.

“When we moved the comet, we found this,” she continued.

It was a hole in Daibazaal, emitting a brilliant light. Several Galra and Altean scientists were surrounding it, taking notes.

“This… is another reality?” he asked. It wasn’t exactly what he thought another reality would look like, but what did he know.

“I believe so.”

Allura turned to the side, gesturing to an Altean who’d just walked up to them.

“This is Hira, and her companions, Alvarr and Moxilous. They are some of the best Altean alchemists I’ve ever known. I’ve asked them to come to Daibazaal to study the rift here in Daibazaal while I analyze the comet in my lab on Altea. ”

Keith inclined his head at them.

He wasn’t very excited about unknown Altean alchemists studying something possibly dangerous, especially ones he didn’t trust, but he didn’t have much choice here. He’d have to take Allura’s word on their trustworthiness.

Allura’s eyes twinkled at him. “Of course, I believe they’ll need a supervisor, to lead the scientific investigation here,” she trailed off. “Like Commander Shirogane, perhaps?”

Keith didn’t know what kind of expression he’d made at her words before his face smoothened out, but Allura’s smile did not bode well for him. Apparently, she knew more about him than he’d thought. 

He narrowed his eyes at her in warning but she just looked at him knowingly. 

Or perhaps she had another motive in mind.

Shiro walked up to her side, and Keith’s eyes grew wide. He wasn’t wearing his usual armour, but clothes similar to what the Altean alchemists wore.

He couldn’t drag his eyes away from Shiro. The armour he usually wore accentuated his figure nicely, but the casual tunic and leggings he wore now suited him in an entirely different way.

Shiro beamed at him. “Keith. It’s so good to see you again,” he said jokingly. “Especially on a more permanent basis.”

He was so distracted by the sight of Shiro that it took him over a minute to realize that Shiro had said ‘permanent’.

Did that mean Shiro would be moving to Daibazaal? For a while, at least?

Allura cleared her throat, and he shifted his gaze back to her, feeling embarrassed to have been caught being so transparent about his feelings.

“Of course. Commander Shirogane is always welcome here.” There was a short pause while Allura looked at him, clearly expecting something else. He flushed when he realized that he hadn’t acknowledged the other alchemists yet. “As are your alchemists, of course.”

Allura smirked at him and he had to restrain the urge to snap at her. It would only encourage her, he knew that much.

He turned back to the other alchemists, pointedly ignoring Allura. “Well, find out everything you can. I will provide any support you require. I must go.” 

He left imperiously, ears twitching in embarrassment when he heard Allura’s laughter, later joined by Shiro’s.

It was always mortifying when he managed to embarrass himself in front of Shiro. Especially when his friends were there to catch it.

After Keith had calmed down a bit, he went back to the research lab to find Shiro.

“I didn’t know you were an alchemist?” he asked.

Shiro hummed as he swiped at the holoscreen. “It was part of my training with Alfor. He was quite insistent on it. I like to think that I’m decent at it, but Allura’s the real powerhouse. I’m a better warrior than alchemist, which he forever despaired at, because he was mainly an alchemist with warrior leanings.”

Keith nodded in understanding. Shiro had told him much about his training with Alfor, even though he’d apparently kept parts of it to himself. He knew that Alfor was the closest thing Shiro had for a parental figure after his grandfather died.

He was almost thankful for the comet striking his planet if it meant that Shiro would be staying on a more permanent basis.

“How long are you staying? You said something about being here on a more permanent basis?” He couldn’t help the hopeful note that had risen in his voice.

If he didn’t know any better, he’d think that Shiro was blushing when he replied. “Yes. I asked Allura if I could stay here and supervise the research here. I don’t really do alchemy anymore, but it was a chance to be closer to you.”

“I’m glad you chose to come.”

Shiro looked at him fondly. “So am I.”

“It’s good to have you back.” He meant it, not just the fact that Shiro was back in Daibazaal again, but in every way he could mean it.

“It’s good to be back,” Shiro agreed with a smile.

  


*****

  


They hadn’t spent much time together, the first time Shiro had stayed at Daibazaal.

Now that Shiro was here to stay though, Keith had plans. Ones that involved making new memories to replace the ones they’d made years ago when they grew up together.

As kids, they’d run wild through Altea, flying their hoverbikes and racing each other without a care in the world. He’d felt a surge of nostalgia when he visited Altea, seeing kids like them racing on their hoverbikes and now that Shiro had come to stay, he wanted to give something back. 

So he’d commissioned specially made hoverbikes, adapted to Daibazaal’s desert climate as a gift, and hopefully, the start of a new tradition.

It was hard to drag Shiro away from his lab, especially with his workaholic tendencies, but Keith tried to make sure he got away from it for a bit, took him exploring Daibazaal when he could or taking him to the training grounds for a spar or two. 

Shiro came easily enough when Keith asked this time, though he raised his eyebrows at Keith’s change of outfit to leathers and a tunic instead of his usual armour. 

He was happy to update Keith on the progress they’d been making, and Keith listened to him talk with half an ear, relieved to hear about the steps they’d made but more concerned about Shiro’s reaction to his gift.

They came to a stop in the palace courtyard where two hoverbikes were waiting for them. One was deep black, accented in white and hints of red, while the other was bright red with white accents and hints of black. Both were matching complements to each other and were fuelled up and ready to go.

“i know we used to do this when we were younger on Altea, but I thought you’d like to start a new tradition here too. it could be–“

“–A new beginning,” Shiro finished, eyes sparkling with joy. “Thank you, Keith. I love it,” he said sincerely.

Keith walked over to the red hoverbike, straddling it and giving Shiro a challenging look. Shiro tilted his head consideringly in reply before giving Keith a wolfish smile and heading over to his own hoverbike, giving the chassis a loving stroke and straddling it. 

“Are you ready?” Shiro asked, a challenge clear in his voice.

“Born ready,” he replied, and they both tore out of the courtyard with matching expressions and delighted laughter.

It was amazing to be racing with Shiro again, the thrill of it something he hadn’t even known he’d been missing until now. 

The desert wind scraped against his cheeks that were already hurting from him smiling so widely. He tipped his bike close to Shiro’s before passing him, whooping as he did so, but Shiro was never one to back down and only sped up. 

Keith’s eyes widened at the sight of the cliff coming up ahead but then his eyes narrowed as he remembered the last time they’d raced, how Shiro had dived off the cliff, leaving him in watching in awe. They’d laughed about it later together but Keith knew he hadn’t been ready then to take it on. 

He grinned when he realized that he was ready for it now, and as he followed Shiro’s lead off the cliff, he thought that flying alone could never compare to flying with Shiro.

Flying had never felt so close to freedom before.

  


*****

  


He’d seen Shiro fight before, multiple times even, and he knew that Shiro was a truly lethal fighter. His body was honed from years of training, and there was an underlying grace and experience in his every movement.

Still, it was different to have all of Shiro’s focus honed solely on him.

It was reminiscent of their days of play-fighting and wrestling, when Shiro would indulge him with it every time he clumsily asked Shiro.

Galra were surprisingly tactile with their young, and play-fighting was one of the best ways to get physical contact like that when you were younger, supplemented by plenty of hugs and nuzzling.

It was also a way to prepare young Galra for their futures.

Shiro had been the one to provide it for him, touch and attention and care after his father’s death.

The funny thing was, when he got back to living among Galra, he should have gotten the physical contact he needed, but the palace was cold and bare and lonely, and so was his grandfather. He only found out about how deprived he was when he watched other Galra far from the palace when he could.

Eventually, he’d just gotten used to it.

But now that Shiro was closer to him, he couldn’t help but seek out whatever contact Shiro would allow him.

Eventually, he’d realized that sparring was a great way of getting his fill of touch from Shiro without looking suspicious, not that he thought Shiro would deny him if he asked.

He was impatient enough to make the first move, throwing a punch at Shiro who dodged it easily.

Shiro didn’t bother holding back, launching straight into a series of kicks that had Keith scrambling to dodge.

They fell into an easy rhythm, evenly matched for the most part.

Sometimes he allowed Shiro to pin him to the wall, just to feel Shiro’s strength for a moment before he escaped the hold.

Today though, Shiro was well and truly distracted. Once he was tired of allowing Shiro to pin him, Keith wasted no time taking advantage of it, flipping him onto the floor and straddling him so he couldn’t get loose.

“Pinned ya,” Keith said teasingly.

Shiro narrowed his eyes before bucking a few times, coming close to dislodging him, but Keith just tightened his grip in his response. He tried not to think about the kind of thoughts this position inspired, keeping his focus on attaining victory over Shiro.

Shiro scowled at him, jerking his head. “Fine, let me up.”

Keith helped Shiro sit up, smirking.

He was taken by surprise when Shiro jumped him sending them both rolling on the floor.

“How is this fair?” he asked with a grunt.

“All’s fair in love and war,” Shiro quipped, as they grappled with each other.

Shiro really was asking for it. He redoubled his efforts, twisting and turning even as they rolled together until he ended up on top of Shiro, who landed on his back with an ‘oof’.

“Heh. Pinned ya again,” Keith said smugly.

Shiro dropped his head on the floor. “Fine. You win.”

Keith laughed, leaning closer to him. “You’re such a bad loser. That hasn’t changed since we were younger.”

They were still panting, leaning into each other until Keith realized how  _ close _ they were and jumped away from Shiro.

“Right, cheaters never win, didn’t you tell me that, Shiro?”

He smoothed his hand over his face before leaning down to give Shiro a hand.

  


*****

  


Keith looked coldly at the challenger. 

He’d entertained a few blood duels from people who thought he was unworthy of the throne, beating them so badly they had to acknowledge his strength and surrender totally, but he’d thought after a few years of peace, they would be over.

"Commander Gnov... So you wish to challenge me too? I thought I'd already proved my strength. But if I must..." Keith inclined his head before lifting his sword.

"No, your majesty, not you.” Gnov shook her head vigorously. “I wish to challenge  _ him _ ." She pointed at Shiro. "He is not worthy of you, my liege. He is too weak.  _ Altean _ . What do you see in him?"

"I do not have to explain myself to you. Not that it's any business of yours but–"

Shiro held out a hand, stopping Keith. 

"I accept your challenge," Shiro said firmly.

Keith tried to talk Shiro out of it, but Shiro insisted on going along with it.

While Shiro prepared himself, Keith quietly summoned Ulaz to his side. Another agent of the Blades of Marmora, he was a medic and capable spy, so he of all people would know why someone was challenging Shiro for being  _ unworthy of him _ .

He shook his head at Ulaz’s explanation that rumours had been spreading about their relationship since the first time Shiro had stayed at Daibazaal, that things had gotten worse when Shiro had moved to Daibazaal for good for the research project. 

There were many who had been discontent with their relationship, even whispers about his preferences being skewed due to his flawed Altean blood, but Shiro had eventually won most of them over. It helped that Shiro himself was such a strong and capable warrior.

His eyes darkened at the thought of any of them hurting Shiro over this, especially given that it wasn’t true, even though his heart ached at the thought.

When the match started, his eyes never left Shiro.

As expected, Shiro was both vicious and unrelenting in his attacks, shedding the polite mask he wore when not in battle. 

Gnov was one of his most experienced commanders, but Shiro was not giving her any inch to fight back. He did notice that Shiro was more determined than he would expect for such a fight, and his heart twinged at the thought that he was doing it for Keith.

Shiro won the duel, and when given the opportunity to slay Gnov, he helped her up instead, showing his merciful yet honourable side. There was no doubt in his mind that Shiro would have achieved victory, especially with his strength, but his truest strength was his kindness.

It was why he guarded Shiro so fiercely, so that none could take that kindness away.

  


*****

  


Keith was patient as he treated Shiro’s various wounds, even though his hands shook just slightly. Shiro had won for him, and Keith had no idea how to react to that.

He was sure that berating him and telling him that he hadn’t needed to accept the challenge was a waste of breath, because no matter what people thought of him, Keith and Shiro were far too alike where it counted.

It was one of the reasons they got along so well.

Another reason he kept quiet was because he didn’t know how to tell Shiro that what he did was probably the sincerest way to tell someone you love them for Galra.

He never thought he'd want someone fighting for him, but it felt like a claim. That Shiro had claimed him.

“After this, people might start calling you my Champion,” Keith joked, even though it felt like anything but a joke to him.

“It would be an honour for me to bear,” Shiro answered steadily. "It would be an honour to be considered your Champion. But even more than that, I am yours."

_ I am yours. _

Yours, yours,  _ yours _ .

The thought kept repeating in his head.

Shiro was going to be the death of him one day.

  


*****

  


During one of Allura’s routine visits to check on the progress they’d made on the rift, she cornered him instead. 

“Keith, why won’t you just admit your feelings to Shiro?”

“I don’t feel anything for Shiro. He’s just my friend.”

“Who do you think you’re kidding? I know how you’re feeling. Just admit it, you’re in love.”

“I can’t– I  _ won’t _ say I’m in love with him.”

Allura looked pointedly at him. It felt accusing.

“It’s not that simple, alright?” Keith sighed. “Besides,” he admitted quietly, “Shiro doesn’t feel the same way.”

He looked up when a few moments passed without Allura saying anything. She was looking at him weirdly.

“I’m beginning to doubt my wisdom in choosing you as leader if you can’t see something so obvious,” she said flatly.

The frustration in him boiled over. “He doesn’t! I don’t know what you think you’re seeing but you’re wrong.”

“He spends more time on Daibazaal than he does Altea. He  _ chose _ to move here to study the rift, actually he volunteered for it if it meant he could stay here. He talks to me about you, and when you leave, it’s almost like he pines until you get back,”

Keith shook his head. He’d made up his mind. “You’re wrong.”

“Keith…” she said sadly.

He loved Shiro, would do anything for Shiro, but he’d accepted that Shiro didn’t feel the same way about him.

  


*****

  


It was the third anniversary of Keith’s ascension, which meant an obligatory feast and ball had to be thrown.

He left the planning to his council. In fact, he had mostly forgotten about it, until he’d been reminded by his aides on the day itself.

The only concession he’d made to the event was to wear his ceremonial armour instead of his regular one, along with his crown.

The dining pavilion turned ballroom had been decorated with banners of the Empire and his own personal symbol. Commanders mingled among the nobles and foreign dignitaries who’d been invited to the event.

He was talking to some diplomats who had just arrived when he heard his name being called behind him. He excused himself and turned to face the person calling him, like he hadn’t immediately recognized Shiro’s voice.

“K–Keith,” Shiro said again. “You look… amazing.”

“Thank you. You as well,” Keith replied, and he wasn’t lying. Shiro was wearing Altean formal wear of some kind that he’d never seen before, and he pulled it off amazingly.

He spent most of the evening talking to people, mingling and otherwise avoiding the dance floor. Soon enough, it was time for the last dance of the night and he forcefully ignored all the alarms blaring in his head, telling him he shouldn’t do this. He wanted to dance with Shiro, just this once.

“May I have this dance?”

Shiro’s surprised face softened into fondness.

“Of course.”

Shiro placed his hand in Keith’s, and the music began. It was something soft and yearning, reaching for something.

They moved in perfect harmony.

One step forward, one step back, parting, only to come back together… 

When he was spun so that his back was to Shiro, it felt like Shiro was embracing him, holding him like something precious.

He allowed his body to take over, following Shiro’s footsteps trustingly, unable to focus on anything other than Shiro.

When Shiro spun him back and pulled him closer, he gave in to the urge bury his face in Shiro’s shoulder.

He remembered how alone he’d felt on this day, three years ago. In the light of the ceremonial flame he’d just lit, he’d never felt so drowned in the dark as right then. How could he have expected everything that happened afterwards? Finding Shiro, who’d brought back the light in his life, always his guiding light.

They danced fluidly to the music, closer and closer still. As he moved in tandem with Shiro, it felt like a metaphor for their relationship. Like trust. Like  _ love. _

All too soon, the song ended and they came to a stop.

He hadn’t noticed earlier but their faces were too close, far too close, and his eyes dropped to Shiro’s lips. He’d never wanted to kiss Shiro more than he did now.

Instead, he took a step back and bowed. It almost felt like a pledge of allegiance, of fidelity, to the only one who held his never-ending love and loyalty.

Having to let go of Shiro was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

“Thank you for the dance,” he managed to say, before turning away.

He had to leave, because if he hadn’t, the look on Shiro’s face would have had him throwing caution to the wind and kissing him right then and there. And one little mistake would have had him ruining the best and most important relationship he had ever had in his life.

He’d been so close.

  


*****

  


Keith avoided Shiro whenever he saw him for the next week. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep up the avoidance act when they were called together by their team. Planning missions wasn’t really something they could do without talking to each other.

He couldn’t quite bring himself to talk to Shiro about why he was acting this way, and after the first few attempts, Shiro just gave him space.

It hurt to feel Shiro’s eyes on his back as he walked away, but it would hurt even more to have his heart broken, so he persevered, somehow. He just had to gather his courage first. He would take any battle over this, it would have been easier.

He was eating his words later when he was separated from the others, surrounded by enemies and pinned down. Realizing he was trapped, his attacks became even fiercer. If he was going to die, he would take them all down with him.

The weapons they were using were like nothing he’d ever faced. 

Every hit seemed to sap him of vitality, of  _ life, _ and he really didn’t like the look of the massive weapon they were charging. A glancing hit from that thing had nearly taken him out from the fight. Something told him that surviving a direct hit from that would take a miracle.

He’d taken down many of them, giving them a hell of a fight but he was getting tired, so when he heard the sound of the cannon they were charging start firing up, he knew something bad was going to happen. 

But they weren’t aiming at him. They were aiming at  _ Shiro. _

Keith’s eyes widened in horror and he took down the remaining fighters with renewed ferocity before running straight to Shiro, just in time to take the blow.

It felt like death, and the last thing he thought was  _ I love you, _ before he knew nothing at all.

  


*****

  


He woke up to the sight of Shiro’s face hovering worriedly over his.

“Shiro?” he asked shakily. It took him a moment to realize where he was.

Shiro sighed in relief. “Keith, you’re alright.” He helped Keith out of the pod, steadying him with an arm wrapped around his shoulders.

He still felt so weak, despite however long he’d been in the pod. It was a strange feeling.

Shiro led him to a chair and pulled a blanket around him to help with the chill that always came after using the cryopods. As soon as Shiro removed his arm, Keith missed the warmth.

“How long was I out?” he asked.

“A day,” Shiro said tightly. “We weren’t sure what was wrong or if the pods could even help, but you started looking a little better after the first few hours.”

Studying Shiro and thinking back to how prepared Shiro had been, like he’d been waiting, Keith tentatively asked, “How long were you waiting for me to wake up?”

“I never left,” Shiro answered simply.

“Shiro…” he said, moving an arm to grasp Shiro’s shoulder. “You didn’t have to–”

He was interrupted by Shiro’s hand catching his, holding it and lacing their fingers together. Keith glanced down at their hands, he just didn’t understand what was going on.

He looked up when he heard Shiro saying something. 

Shiro looked sad, but determined. “Keith…” He took a few deep breaths, before continuing, “I can’t lose you, Keith.”

Keith’s heart rose in his chest. 

“I don’t know what I would do without you,” Shiro said, and it sounded like he was close to crying. “You can’t imagine what you’ve done for me.”

The grip on his hand tightened, before it loosened again. On impulse, Keith squeezed his hand, wanting to support Shiro somehow.

Shiro sent him a shaky smile, bumping his forehead against Keith’s. His face was so close, Keith could see the flecks of gold in his eyes.

“I love you,” Shiro declared.

Keith’s world ended and began with those three words.

“I love you too, Takashi,” he said, bringing a hand up to stroke at Shiro’s cheek until it met his scar. “You’re everything.”

Shiro brought his left hand up to Keith’s face, his right hand still holding Keith’s, and pressed their faces closer together as he laughed happily.

Keith couldn’t hold back the smile at Shiro’s joy. He rubbed at Shiro’s fingers and asked, “So where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know… but what I do know is that we’ll do it together.”

“Always.”

  
  



	4. i love you

“Shiro has really softened you up, my friend. I never thought I’d see the day the great warrior emperor Keith so content. One might even say… domestic,” Allura teased.

Keith inclined his head. He would deny it, but the evidence was quite blatant; Shiro made him happy. “You should take your own advice,” he said, enjoying that he had the upper hand for once.

Allura raised her eyebrows at him. 

“With  _ Lance _ ,” he drew out. 

Over the years, he’d watched Lance’s flirtations with her grow to honest respect and adoration, as Allura slowly grew closer to him, seeing how he’d changed into a man she admired and trusted. He was happy now with Shiro, happier than he’d ever been before, so he just wanted his friends to have that too.

She looked discomfited by his observation.

“Allura. Everyone deserves to be happy, right? Even you,” he said, throwing her own words back at her. “Take that chance, because if you don’t, you’ll regret it.”

Her face lost some of the tension as he continued talking, gaining a thoughtful expression instead.

They spoke a little more as they walked to the research facility over the rift, sidestepping the topic of Lance and Allura’s feelings, but Keith knew Allura was thinking about it now. He could only hope she did something about it.

“Shiro. Working hard as always,” Allura greeted fondly, walking over to join him at his station. “How is our quintessence experiment?”

Shiro looked up from studying the holoscreen and greeted Allura with a hug. He led them both over to another station where a rotating pod was currently being powered by the quintessence. “It’s still running.”

“Running for a full year on one drop of quintessence with no decline in revolutions per dobosh. No other energy source like this exists,” Allura said, sounding excited. “The ships I’m creating for us work on the same principle. And the ore from the comet practically engineers itself. It’s– frightening, in a way.”

“An energy source that would power itself forever, that would help so much,” Keith said. He struggled to provide energy to his troops and the planets under the care of the empire.

“An endless source of energy for the entire system would be amazing,” Allura agreed.

“What is that?”

Allura was looking at an amorphous blob floating around contained by an energy field.

“I sent some signals into the neighbouring reality and this creature answered the call,” Shiro replied. “Nothing from our universe was able to survive the passage through the rift, but somehow, it arrived unharmed.”

“What? I thought we’d discussed this, we must exercise caution. We have no idea what is out there.”

“Just imagine! There are other worlds out there, just waiting to be discovered! This could change the universe as we know it!" Shiro said.

Shiro had always been the kind to break past limits, to go beyond what was thought possible. It was a part of him that Keith had always admired, first in his piloting, and now in his research.

Keith was interrupted from his thoughts when the dark mass began moving strangely in the energy field. It twisted its form into horrific shapes, expanding crazily, and let out an awful screech.

The ground shook and Keith was reminded of the day the comet struck Daibazaal. An outpouring of dark energy burst from the rift, flooding the research chamber, breaking it apart in a torrential wave.

They all ran towards the exit, barely making it out in time.

  


*****

  


Shiro and Allura erected a particle barrier around the crater to contain the creatures, but it was only a temporary solution. The particle barrier would only last so long, and Daibazaal was sure to become the first casualty.

Keith busied himself by commanding his troops to surround the area with orders to shoot until the creatures died. He tried not to think about the many soldiers he had condemned to death on what could be a pointless effort.

“The barrier is weakening,” Shiro said.

“If those creatures escape, my forces won’t stand a chance,” Keith said angrily, claws almost piercing the undersuit covering his hands as his fists clenched. “My planet… my people…” 

He had a responsibility to his people, to protect them, and this helplessness was infuriating.

“Allura’s project will save us,” Shiro reassured him.

“Let us hope.”

  


*****

  


Keith was hesitant to leave his planet, aware it was on the brink of catastrophe, but Allura’s promises were too hard to ignore. 

“I hope this plan of yours will work, Allura,” he said. Because if it didn’t, his planet was doomed.

Allura didn’t say anything, allowing the glimpses of the machines in the hangar to answer for her.

The ships were a breathtaking sight. He’d never seen anything like them. They did however remind him of– lions? Five lions stood majestically, like a pride, recalling an old memory that resurfaced, like a family.

The others were quick to offer their compliments to Allura.

“Allura, they’re amazing. How do they work?” 

“I made them from the quintessence-infused ore of the comet, which provides them with an endless supply of power,” Allura explained. “The comet alloy also renders them nearly indestructible.”

“What sort of weapons do they have?” Lance asked. 

“This is where things become more,” she paused, “ _ interesting _ . Altean alchemy can accomplish some incredible feats of engineering, as you know, but in testing my ship, I started to feel some sort of psychic link. I’m not sure how to explain it but the ship, it wasn’t just reading my mind, it was communicating with me. They seem to be evolving. We don’t yet know what powers these ships possess but we may gain understanding with time.”

As impressed as Keith was by Allura’s ships, he was impatient with the need to actually do something.

“Time? We don’t have time! My people will be the first to fall if this plan doesn’t succeed!”

Allura looked at him mournfully. “I understand.”

He realized something else. There were only five ships, and six of them. How would this work?

When he asked Allura, she just smiled mysteriously and urged him to look deeply into himself.

“It may take some doing. These are not regular ships to be chosen at a whim. You do not pick the lion. The lion will choose you.”

Slowly, something in the air changed. He could feel it within himself, a blazing light he’d tamed and controlled, it was a part of him. It was him.

And he could feel another energy, one that felt like void and stars and space itself, reaching out to him.

His eyes flew open when he felt another energy mingling and mixing with his own, less overwhelming than the first, but still feeling like stars and sky and  _ home. _

Shiro?

The ship’s outline lit up, eyes glowing, and he felt a rumbling purr at the edge of his consciousness.

So this ship had chosen him. Him and Shiro.

As he walked into it with Shiro, everything about it welcomed him.

  


*****

  


They took a few moments to change into the armour and weapons Allura had designed for them, before leaving Altea in the lions. Keith marvelled at the lion’s unprecedented speed, as well as how easy it was to handle. It was like no ship he’d ever flown before, and flying with Shiro and the feeling of  _ connection  _ was just another reason to be excited about it.

“Now, go easy in the beginning,” Allura warned. “This is greater energy than you’ve ever worked with before.”

“Perhaps you should lead the formation, Allura,” Keith suggested. “You have a greater understanding of these ships than anyone.”

One look at Shiro was enough to know that he agreed.

“I’m a better alchemist than military leader, Keith. It’s why you and Shiro were chosen to be our leaders to begin with. You and Shiro should take the lead here. It feels fitting.”

Keith gave a sharp nod. “Alright.”

“On my mark then, paladins,” Shiro announced. “Right flank, Lance and Allura. Left flank, Pidge and Hunk.”

They all settled into formation.

The journey from Altea to Daibazaal was shorter than ever before, and they arrived in a matter of minutes. 

Once they’d arrived, the creatures had already broken through the particle barrier, forming a gigantic creature unlike anything Keith had ever seen before. It appeared that the sentries he’d ordered to surround it hadn’t done much damage, if any.

“Paladins,” Shiro said firmly. “Keith and I will fly ahead and divert its attention. The rest of you, attack from all sides!”

Keith began shooting blasts at it, distracting it from the others and as soon as they were in position, he shouted, “Fire!”

The blasts went through it easily, and he told them to keep firing, hoping to find a weak spot of some sort. 

The creature separated into streams of dark energy following after them and they dodged and weaved around the creature’s limbs. 

When Lance was submerged in the creature’s mass, Allura blasted him free.

“Thanks, Allura,” Lance said, relief clear in his voice.

“Anytime.”

Hunk tried a different way to deal damage to the creature, literally spinning his ship around like a tornado to strike it, but it didn’t work either.

“I can’t hit it,” Hunk announced.

“Paladins, fall back! We need to regroup!” Shiro called. 

Their attacks weren’t working, but they were causing a lot of damage to the planet itself. Keith wasn’t sure how they were going to win this fight.

“Wait!” Allura interrupted.. “We need to come together in formation.”

“What? Why?” Pidge asked, following her directions regardless.

“I don’t know, but somehow I can feel it.”

They flew in formation, synchronized like they’d never been before.

A feeling went through him, something he’d never felt before, and from the others’ reactions, they felt the same way.

_ Voltron. _

Somehow, they’d all come together and formed a giant robot made up of all their ships.

They launched themselves back towards the planet, hitting the creature with all the force they could muster.

“I can’t believe it!” Keith exclaimed.

“How did this happen?” Pidge said.

“I’m a leg!” Hunk announced.

“How are we doing this?” Lance asked.

“I don’t know, but we did it!” Shiro said triumphantly.

“ _ This _ is Voltron,” Allura said.

The ground rumbled and the creature came bursting out behind them, focusing a dark blast straight at them.

Pidge formed a shield to block the blow.

Two more of its limbs were charging even more ion blasts directly at them, and it was too much for the shield to handle. Their shield flew right out of their hands and they fell to the ground. 

The creature surrounded them, like a miasmic cocoon of some sort, trying to destroy them.

“It’s trying to rip into us!”

“We have to get it off!”

Suddenly the console to his right began glowing and he felt some instinct guiding him. Calling his bayard from its sheath, he slammed it into the console and turned, producing a  _ sword. _

With the sword, he sliced through the creature, ripping it away from Voltron and destroying it in one fell swoop.

“We did it!” Keith yelled, and they all cheered.

  


*****

  


After the battle, Keith, Shiro and Allura returned to the crater and the now destroyed research center. As he observed the wreckage, he felt a pang of regret for all the projects which were going to be set back for who knew how long.

“We must find a way to seal up this rift,” Allura said, interrupting his thoughts.

“Seal up the rift? Why?” Shiro asked.

“It nearly destroyed Daibazaal,” she replied incredulously.

“Those  _ creatures _ nearly destroyed Daibazaal, and you found a way to defeat them.”

“Keith, surely you agree with me? It must be closed.” He didn’t know why Allura was coming to him, she should know that he would support whatever Shiro said, especially concerning something so vital to his empire.

“I agree that it’s risky, but look at what we’ve gained, Allura. Your ships are the most powerful machines ever created. Who knows what else may be discovered if we continue working?”

The quintessence itself was already incredibly valuable. If the studies were right, there would be enough to provide for the entire empire a thousand times over. They needed that quintessence. Desperately.

“You would risk your entire planet, the entire solar system, for what? For more power?” Her voice was rife with condemnation, like she was reassessing her entire opinion of him. It stung to have her accuse him like this, of being a power hungry tyrant, especially when she should know him better by now. “You know it’s more than that.”

“We already have Voltron. You have to know when it’s enough.”

“I’ll decide what’s enough on my planet!”

Allura drew back from him. He regretted shouting at her as soon as he’d done it, but he couldn’t tell her why he was so desperate for the rift project’s survival.

“I’m sorry, Allura. The work will continue.”

He really did regret that they couldn’t agree on this, especially since her help would have been invaluable, but he wouldn’t adjust his position. His people needed whatever they could learn and develop from the rift.

  


*****

  


Keith was surprised that Allura hadn’t left Daibazaal immediately following their argument, considering how heated it had gotten.

It was less of a surprise when she ignored him when he approached her at breakfast.

No matter how upset she was at him though, he knew that a sincere apology and some time to think would be the best way to rebuild those bridges.

“I’m sorry, Allura. I have my reasons for wanting to continue with the research.”

She didn’t say anything, continuing to eat her breakfast without any indication that she was listening to him.

“I understand the risks, but this is something we’ll disagree on,” he continued stubbornly.

They shared that in common at least, which meant that their arguments lasted longer and they were markedly colder to each other when it happened.

Neither one of them liked to admit when they were wrong.

Allura’s grudge did not let up in the next few days but that didn’t stop them from travelling to Altea to train with their new ships.

They’d started with trying to form Voltron again, and after they’d failed at that enough times, team bonding. Coran thought they didn’t trust each other enough. 

Given that they’d fought plenty of battles together and had been friends for years now, Keith just thought that Coran was screwing with them and found the idea of them doing some Altean trust exercises amusing.

Like the trust fall.

That had been a disaster.

It wasn’t even that they didn’t trust each other, it was that they all found it much more amusing to leave their partners to fall and laugh at them. To be fair, Pidge’s failure to catch Hunk had been amusing to the extreme and even Hunk had laughed afterwards.

Then, there had been the Altean maze.

Coran had a knack for choosing the two most contrary paladins and forcing them to work with each other.

The first and only example being Keith and Lance. Keith still hadn’t managed to figure out if Lance really was that bad at directions, or if he just enjoyed seeing Keith electrocuted after walking into the wall  _ again. _ Not that he hadn’t had his fun in return though. He’d just used Lance’s distrust of his orders after what he’d done to Keith against him to trick Lance into doing the opposite of what he’d said.

Everyone had given it up as a bad idea after that.

Today, Coran had brought out some circlets and asked them all to sit in a circle.

“Come on now, you need to be linked together, like a pack of yelmores! Now there’s some real teamwork!”

“Coran, we’ve been a team for years. literal mind melding has never been something we needed to do until now,” Hunk said.

“Well tough luck, paladins, because I fear that is what you need to do! In fact, Shiro and I can go get a pack to serve as an example!”

Shiro groaned. Apparently, yelmores did not bring up good memories for him.

“If the yelmores you’re talking about are the ones I’m thinking about, Coran, that might be easier said than done,” Pidge said dryly.

“I say, you’ll never know true adventure and bonding until you’re running half naked together from a pack of yelmores because–”

Keith pointedly did not look at Shiro, because that would bring up too many thoughts better left buried, especially if they were going to link their minds together afterwards.

“I’m sure that’s enough Coran,” Allura interrupted.

Lance waved a hand casually. “Yup, we need to be really linked together, got it.”

“Alright, close your eyes and imagine your lions. Imagine them combining and forming Voltron,” Allura instructed.

Keith closed his eyes, sinking into how it felt to fly with Black. How deep and endless she felt, like being caught in a starfield. Unfortunately, feelings of flying with Black also meant flying with  _ Shiro _ , which distracted him. 

It was really only when they flew Black together, that first time when Black had chosen them, that Keith had felt Shiro’s natural quintessence. Shiro’s quintessence shone as brightly as a star, with all the depth of a sky, and it always felt like flying and home.

He almost flushed when he realized that he had gotten well and truly sidetracked from the exercise and focused again on just Black. But it looked like he wasn’t the only one having problems concentrating and after a few unsuccessful tries, they all gave up on it for the day.

“I have a suggestion,” Hunk said. “Maybe we could all try bonding with our lions first, instead of forming Voltron right away? It’s not just the bonds between us that are involved, but our bonds with our lions too right?”

“How did you figure that out Hunk?”

Hunk shrugged. “I mean it only makes sense.”

They all looked at each other. “Well, we’ve tried everything else,” Pidge said, always the logical one. 

So they all left for their respective lions’ hangar.

In Black’s hangar with Shiro, Keith was fighting even more embarrassment as Shiro started talking to him about the exercise.

“Are you alright, Keith? You seemed to have trouble focusing at the beginning.”

Keith willed his face not to show his flush at the thought of what had distracted him. He knew it was a losing battle when Shiro came closer to him and he felt his ears perking right up without his control.

Their relationship was still so new, even though he’d loved Shiro for so long. It still awed him that Shiro had chosen him, that Shiro loved him  _ back _ .

“You weren’t the only one with trouble focusing,” Shiro confessed.

“Yeah? What were you thinking of?”

“You. Always you,” Shiro promised.

He kissed Shiro’s cheek, right on the Altean marks, ignoring Shiro’s slight shiver at the sensation. He entered the Black Lion. Shiro followed him in, taking a seat on his own chair.

The screens lit up, the surrounding purple glow a comfort to him. It was familiar. He brushed a hand along the controls, sinking into a memory of what it had been like to fly with Black.

“What does Black feel like to you?” Shiro asked curiously.

Keith’s ears twitched as he tried to think of an answer. “Black… to me, feels a lot like you,” he finally answered. “Deeper, and powerful, like an entire galaxy. There’s a weight to her, a pull like gravity. You’re more like a sky full of stars, but… you also feel like  _ home _ .”

Shiro chuckled, staring at him fondly. “For me, you feel like a star going supernova, fire and light and  _ life _ . Being with you in Black feels like flying but I’m already in the freefall.”

He could hear a rumbling purr in his mind. Black was present and listening to them.

It cam as a complete surprise when Black just flew out of the hangar without any input from them both.

Black had only lingered at the edges of his mind up until now, but feeling her push now made his walls automatically go up. He didn’t know what was happening, but it was just incredibly overwhelming.

He wasn’t the only one having trouble ceding control.

Shiro was tense, shouting panicked orders at Black to turn around and go back to the castle.

Keith gripped Shiro’s hand tightly, feeling Shiro slowly calming down. He watched as Shiro closed his eyes and he could almost feel the moment when they both just  _ connected. _ It looked like that connection was Black’s intention from the beginning, but he did not let go of his walls.

Shiro’s hand squeezed his for just a moment, before he said soothingly, “It’s about earning each other’s trust, Keith. Connect with the lion and let her in.” 

“I can’t,” he protested. He’d never let someone in so close, no one except Shiro.

“I know you can.” Shiro always believed in him, but sometimes his faith felt like too much to bear.

He tried the controls.

Black resolutely did not move, her presence still lingering in his mind. It didn’t feel malicious though, she reminded him too much of Shiro, and against his will, his walls dropped.

She reached out to him, still feeling like starfields and endless skies, but Shiro was right.

“I guess we just have to trust you.” With his eyes closed, he laid a hand on the control stick, gentle now. “We have to trust each other.”

Black let out an approving roar.

When he opened his eyes, they were back in the hangar like they’d never left.

Black’s presence in his mind getting stronger, and without any warning, Black let out an almighty roar.

Keith jumped, ears pressing flat against his head, when he heard four answering roars, like the lions themselves had synchronized.

Voltron was back.

*****

It appeared that the bonding sessions with their lions had done some good after all. They’d managed to form Voltron.

But as Allura reminded them, they still had to get used to their Lions, so Coran had come up with some flight exercises and maneuvers for them to try out, to test their skill.

As a pilot of considerable skill, paired with another pilot of considerable skill, Coran’s exercises came easily.

What came less easily was ignoring Lance’s goading. No matter how much practice or experience he had, something about Lance just dragged him down to the level of a child. Again.

Keith knew that had he been younger and less grounded than he was, he’d probably have responded to Lance’s goading while they were trying out Coran’s latest attempt at killing them: the blindfold maneuver.

Allura had explained that with the psychic bond between the pilot and the lion, they would theoretically be able to see through the lion’s eyes.

After bonding with Black, Keith had noticed that flying with her had come much easier, like he’d passed some sort of test. Even so, he wasn’t very keen on the idea of diving straight into the ground with a blindfold on and trusting the bond between them to help him pull out of the dive just like that.

Shiro had had some renewed faith in it though, and he trusted Shiro.

And now… he was beginning to trust Black too.

So despite his trepidation, he tried.

They flew towards the sky until they reached a good height and immediately settled into a dive.

He could feel them accelerating, throttling down the sky heading straight for a sand dune. He closed his eyes, reciting Shiro’s mantra in his head.

_ Patience yields focus. _

He tapped into the bond between him, Black, and Shiro, into the feeling of  _ voidskystars _ and he felt a change. He felt in sync with the lion, and without any communication, he and Shiro pulled out of the dive in sync, just in time to avoid the crash.

When he realized what they’d done, he whooped, bumping his hand against Shiro’s in celebration.

It felt like a step forward.

  


*****

  


The first battle with the lions had introduced them to their bayards, but it was only now that they’d managed to do anything about them.

The bayards took the form of the weapon they were most comfortable with, so it was no shock to Keith that his took the form of a sword.

He swung it a few times, testing the balance. The weight felt perfect in his hands.

Shiro’s was naturally a sword as well, if a different kind than his. Allura’s was an energy whip, while Lance’s had taken the form of his favourite blaster. Hunk’s was unsurprisingly a cannon, while Pidge’s was a short-range taser. 

Allura said that they could test their bayards by trying them out against Altean battle bots. He was beginning to think that Galra and Altean teaching methods may not be very different after all.

Fly or fall was a very common way to learn for Galra too.

The others were eliminated after a while, leaving him and Shiro the only ones on the floor.

It did surprise him when in the midst of the fight, his bayard teleported to his left hand when the right was pinned down.

He grinned in feral delight at the discovery; he could do a lot with a teleporting blade. He got used to the sensation of his sword switching hands in the middle of battle soon enough and they managed to defeat the Altean bots together.

The battle ended with his and Shiro’s blades locked together, before they withdrew and came together in a kiss.

  


*****

  


The Lions of Voltron were the best ships Keith had ever had the pleasure of piloting, so that, combined with his experience, meant that defeat, while it still happened, was far less familiar than victory.

So when the group of Antalexian witches they were chasing turned back against them and they had to retreat, it was a surprise when Allura mentioned the wormhole they were escaping through being corrupted.

He became significantly more upset when his ship flew out of the Castle’s hangar, while he and Shiro were still in it. His ship and the Black Lion, having been closest to the hangar doors were the first to go flying out. From what he could see as they spiralled through the wormhole, the rest of the lions came flying out too.

Outside of the wormhole, he and Shiro were rapidly approaching a planet in an uncontrolled tailspin until they were flung into opposite directions. He frantically tried to steer the ship and cushion the landing when he crashed and everything went blank.

When he stirred, he didn’t know how much time had passed. He found himself grateful that his armour had taken most of the blow so he was mostly uninjured. Seeing the remains of the fighter he’d borrowed scattered around him did make him long for the relative indestructibility of the lions though.

With that thought, he was reminded of the other paladins and how he’d last seen the Black Lion spinning away from him.

He clambered out of his ship, pushing away the scraps.

“Where are we? Where have we landed?” Keith gasped, before he realized it, “Shiro.”

“Shiro?” he tried again, over the comms, but his only answer was silence.

He got out of the crater his ship had made, painstakingly climbing out until he’d gotten to higher ground. “Shiro, can you hear me?” The crackle of the comms did not bode well for him. “Shiro?” He started running towards the direction his visor was pointing him to. “Shiro, are you there?” he panted. 

“Answer me,” he demanded, getting more and more worried the longer Shiro didn’t answer.

Finally, Keith heard something. 

“Keith. I’m here,” Shiro replied, even though the comms were staticky. “Keith.”

He heard a muffled groan coming from Shiro before he answered, “Shiro, it’s Keith.”

“Keith, Keith, I’m here, I’m okay,” Shiro answered.

“Shiro…” Keith said, feeling like collapsing with relief. He sped up even more instead, wanting to get to Shiro faster. “You made it.”

“It takes more than a glowing alien wound to falling from the upper atmosphere to crashing into a hard surface to get rid of me. How are you?” Shiro asked sardonically.

Keith hoped the frown he was wearing right now was enough to project his displeasure at Shiro’s gallows humour over the coms in lieu of words.

He hopped from the rock pillars using his jetpack as he answered, “Not good. My ship’s destroyed. What wound?”He came to a complete stop for a moment as he registered just what Shiro had said earlier.

“It’s nothing,” Shiro tried to reassure him.

“Hang on,” Keith said, after hearing Shiro’s grunts of pain. “I’m coming.”

“On second thought, you better hurry,” Shiro’s voice dropped low.

“Shiro, what happened?”

“Some creatures–”

The planet’s lower gravity meant he could leap and clear greater distances with help from his jetpack. It also helped the fact that any step he took set off a geyser.

As Keith looked around, more and more geysers erupted around him, even from underneath his feet. He ran frantically to avoid them, panting and grunting as he did so. One geyser caught him by surprise, the force of it sending him tumbling, straight down a cliff.

Luckily, he managed to activate his bayard in time to drive it into the cliff face and hung from it.

He could hear the faint sounds of something happening from Shiro’s end.

“Keith, are you okay?” he heard. “What happened?”

“Minor delay, “ he shot back. “But I’m on my way.” He looked at the hand clutching his bayard worriedly. His jetpack gave him the boost he needed to get back on top of the cliff. “How are you?” he asked.

“I’m alright, but I’m trapped in a cave, and some creatures have me cornered.”

“Stay put. I’m on my way. I just have to… figure this out,” he said, looking at the vast expanse standing between him and Shiro.

When he remembered the geyser, he realized what he could do.

He sighed. “Patience yields focus,” he recited.

“That really stayed with you, didn’t it?”

He stomped on the ground. “You’ve given me some good advice.” Staring up at the geyser that erupted from the force, he said, “If it wasn’t for you, my life would’ve been a lot different.”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t have crashed on an alien planet, stuck with little hope of rescue, so you’re welcome.” Shiro started coughing.

“Stay with me, Shiro.”

He activated his bayard, slashing the piece of ground underneath him, and setting off a geyser that should take him to the other side of the canyon. He only made it to the other side thanks to his jetpack and sheer dumb luck.

“Keith. Keith!”

“Hang on. I’m on my way,” he brushed off.

“Good. Because these guys just started digging.” 

He flew the rest of the way with his jetpack, laughing in relief when he saw the Black Lion. “Shiro! I have a visual on the Black Lion.”

He heard Shiro’s yelling and faint sounds of a battle over the comms, followed by grunts of pain, and then silence.

“Shiro, what happened?!” he demanded. He put some more force into his jumps.

When he finally reached the Black Lion, he looked down only to see Shiro getting cornered by some creatures. He headed straight for Black, begging her to let him in. After what she’d been hit with by the space witch and the crash, it wasn’t a surprise she didn’t respond, but he was beginning to panic. 

“Shiro’s in trouble. We need to help him,” he pleaded.

Black woke with a flash of gold eyes.

Shiro was making his final stand against the aliens when Keith slammed Black’s paw down on one of the creatures. One by one, he took them all down, scaring them all away with a roar.

Shiro was his to protect.

With them all gone, he quickly got out of Black and carried Shiro inside. With Shiro safely secured, he looked for an open space to land and wait for the others to find them. Then, he went out to forage for supplies.

After he’d found enough materials to scrape by for a fire, he helped Shiro out of Black, leaning him against the rock wall, before taking a seat next to him.

“Thanks for saving me,” Shiro said.

“You would’ve done the same for me,” Keith said.  _ You saved me, over and over again, it’s my turn to save you now _ , went unspoken. “How’s your wound?” he asked worriedly.

“My wound’s great. It’s getting bigger all the time,” Shiro snarked. Keith was decidedly unimpressed. 

“Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood,” Shiro said sheepishly.

“Hang in there. When Allura and Coran find us, they’ll fix you right up.”

“Keith… if I don’t make it out of here…”

Keith had to put his foot down. “No. Stop talking like that, you’re going to make it. I’ll make sure of it myself.”

Shiro smiled at him softly. “Ever my protector.”

“Always.”

  


*****

  


Caelum was not a planet he would visit for fun.

The swirling hurricanes, constant storms and threat of imminent volcanic eruptions made it dangerous even to experienced pilots like him… which was why Coran had suggested that it was the perfect place to test Black’s flight capabilities.

He did have to admit that it did seem to fit Black uniquely. The others had been sent off to planets designed to test their own lions. He wished them all the best, because he knew Coran’s take on training would make them all sufficiently miserable.

At least he had Shiro with him.

Shiro seemed happy to take the challenge.

It was always nice to fly with Shiro because there was never a struggle between them for who should lead, and when they did, it was more playful and challenging than anything else.

Coran’s training was simple. They just had to make it from one end of the planet to the other end. Any failure and they would have to repeat the exercise over again until they made it to the other side unscathed.

It sounded simple, until you remembered all the hurricanes and storms and natural disasters of the planet waiting along the way.

Keith had also added a personal agenda to this training day. 

He wanted to catch the lightning from the planet in an orb to gift to Shiro. Of course, he had to do it without Shiro figuring out what he was doing so it was easier said than done, but he did love a challenge.

It was times like this when he wondered how he hadn’t been matched with the Red Lion. Maybe once upon a time, he would have been. As it was, he probably got along with the Lion better than he did Lance, sometimes.

He and Shiro failed the first few times as they got a feel for the planet’s atmosphere, which made it easier for Keith to try completing his self-imposed task. 

It was hard, redirecting the lightning around them into his specially made orb, and he failed too many times to count.

In the end, it was a reckless move on his part that had him catching the lightning and completing the training exercise in one fell swoop.

Luckily, Black played along with his scheme and the lightning orb was hidden away in a compartment, with Shiro none the wiser.

All the trouble of catching it, while keeping it a secret from Shiro, was worth it to see the look on Shiro’s face when he presented it.

  


*****

  


Coran was possibly more enthusiastic about the team than Allura was. He was a good man, so Keith put up with his eccentricities without complaint, even when he didn’t understand them. 

That was why after the first day, when Coran had set off the alarms as a drill and woken him up after a scant hour of sleep, he threatened Coran with finding his beloved mustache mysteriously gone one day if he ever used the alarms as a drill again. Now, Coran stuck to the castle’s announcement system instead.

He appreciated Coran’s agreement to the deal, and complied with only mild grumbling to the next team meetings.

However, even Keith had limits to his patience, and they were quickly approaching after the fourth early morning wake up call in the same week. In a  _ row. _

Normally, he was the one pulling these early morning team exercises, but it did not feel good to have the tables turned on him.

He should’ve been given a reward for his patience, he grumbled internally, pulling his pillow over his head. Murder is the least of what he would do if this continued even longer.

“ ‘Think Coran wants us to wake up,” Shiro mumbled, sounding even sleepier than Keith felt.

“Mrrghhh.”

Shiro flapped an arm uselessly. “C’mon, our team wants us up.” 

“Before sunrise, they’re  _ your _ team.”

“Is that how it is?” Shiro asked, sounding amused and awake, damn him.

“That’s how it is,” he confirmed sleepily, pressing his lips to his lover’s chest and laying down on it. Said chest was now rumbling and vibrating suspiciously.

He patted Shiro’s chest clumsily. “Hush. Stop moving.” Shiro obediently stilled. “Mmmm, better,” he mumbled.

He felt a faint kiss pressed against his head before gentle fingers started stroking his hair.

“Love you,” he heard, before he fell back asleep, warm and content.

*****

Keith had been holding an audience of his commanders when he was interrupted by an officer throwing open the door. He was about to reprimand the officer but she gasped out horrific news: Shiro had been kidnapped and the kidnappers were demanding a ransom for his safe return.

It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to hurt Shiro to get to him, but he was still horrified to see how quickly others had pegged on to Shiro as Keith’s weakness. 

So when the kidnappers demanded a truly ridiculous price for Shiro’s return, Keith ordered for arrangements to be made for the sum and the materials they were asking for, and assigned Kolivan to the task.

Still, he was no passive person, so it freed him up to do what he actually wanted to do: find Shiro and give the kidnappers hell for daring to take him.

With help from Thace, he managed to find the pirate’s ships, taking them all out one by one. By the time he got to the one that held Shiro, he’d lost any sense of subtlety and straight up rammed the Black Lion into the ship, opening it up to the vacuum of space.

It was made even funnier by the fact that Shiro had managed to free himself before Keith had reached him, even if he was still weak from the sedatives they’d slipped him, so it was a short walk into the Black Lion before Keith blasted the ship to pieces.

It made for an amusing tale to tell their team, that was for sure.

  


*****

  


“I found this wolf in that part of space I was exploring… He just came out of a comet that fell a little further than where I was. it was amazing.”

Shiro shook his head fondly. “Only you, Keith.” He bent down to pet the wolf, waiting patiently for it to sniff his hand and decide that he wasn’t a threat, and was gratified when the wolf approached him cautiously after a few moments. “So what are you going to call him?”

“Kosmo. It seems fitting.”

Shiro took it in stride like he did for everything Keith did. “Welcome to the family, Kosmo.”

Kosmo commemorated his welcome by jumping on top of Shiro and licking him vigorously.

  


*****

  


Keith had plans to be away for the rest of the evening, so he assigned Kolivan to be in charge in his absence as usual. When Kolivan asked where he was going, he could only answer that Shiro had invited him to join an Altean ceremony for mourning, and that they would need to go to Altea for it. 

The Day of Lights was one for mourning and remembrance for the people you lost, and when Shiro had invited him, he’d hesitated, feeling like he’d be intruding, but Shiro had insisted, and Keith could never deny Shiro anything.

Kolivan was silent for a moment after he explained, before he asked something Keith had never expected, especially not from him.

“Do you plan on remembering your mother?” he asked, oddly gentle.

His mother had always been a loaded topic for him. Her abandonment of him had hurt, it still did, and more than once he’d wondered if she’d ever truly wanted him at all. As a child, it had been a defining question of his life, especially after his father’s death. Because if he was wanted, why did everyone he love leave him?

“My mother didn’t care about me, she  _ left _ . Why would I want to remember her?” he asked flatly.

Kolivan, who was the most stoic person he’d ever met, looked horrified.

“Your mother loved you very much, Keith. She left because she was forced to, not because she wanted to leave you.”

“What?”

And so Kolivan told him the entire story; how his mother had been an elite agent of the Blades, but her father’s choices had forced her away from him and she had run away to Altea, believing her father would never look for her there. 

She met Keith’s father and fell in love. For a little while, they were a family, Krolia, Heath and him, but then her father found out and forced her to come back, and she’d left to protect them. 

her father had forced her to take mission after mission so that she’d never be able to go back to her family, and one day she just dropped off the grid, likely dead.

“She always wanted to go back to you. She told me once, that the reason she left was to protect the person she loved most in the world. You.”

The information turned his world upside down.

For years, he’d wanted to know why she left, why she didn’t care about him, but now that he did, he just didn’t know how to react anymore.

Kolivan left him to his thoughts with an apology.

For so long, the only thing he’d had left of his mother was a mysterious blade. Now he knew it as luxite, and from Kolivan’s words, that she’d left it because she thought he would need it someday.

It was a quiet journey to Altea while Keith stewed in his thoughts.

Shiro gave him a welcome distraction from his pondering, as he led them both straight to the lake they’d played at when they were kids. The last time he'd seen Shiro there, it was the day he'd left to apprentice under Alfor. 

It had felt wrong to come alone afterwards, so he hadn't returned since.

Shiro was planning to light an orb in honour of his grandfather, the man who’d raised him, so Keith tried to protest when Shiro invited him to join for the actual act. 

“He wouldn’t have minded. You’re my family too,” Shiro said. “And this,” he gestured at the sky, ”is for all the people we’ve lost. Not just me.”

Keith released the orb of light into the sky, thoughts of the people he’d lost– Shiro’s grandfather, his father, and even his mother– playing in his head as he watched it join hundreds of others, creating a trail of light.

Today was a day on Altea meant for remembrance and love for the departed.

After the lights, it was a custom to spend the rest of the night reminiscing about the past and telling stories about the people they missed.

Shiro shared some stories of his grandfather that Keith hadn’t heard yet, including how his grandfather had wouldn’t have been surprised to hear of their relationship now.

“Takashi, he looks at you like you’re his guiding light,” Shiro said in a fairly good impression. “And you look at him the same way. Now, I’m not making your choices for you, but when you find love like that, you don’t let go.”

“I’m glad he approved of me.”

“He loved you. Maybe a part of it was because you loved me, but he had his own relationship with you too.”

Grandpa Shirogane had been atypical for a noble, more content to spend his days working on his engines and ships than participate in politics. He and Keith had bonded over that, with Shiro watching from the sidelines fondly. He’d passed on his love of flying to Shiro, who’d passed it on to Keith.

He touched Shiro’s chest gently. “The mark he left on our lives will never be forgotten. Let him live on through you.”

They sat there in silence out of respect for a moment.

“I do love you, you know,” Keith’s voice broke the silence. 

He didn’t say it as much as Shiro did; the words always came harder for him. He preferred to show his love in his actions, but sometimes he worried if Shiro didn’t know just how much Keith loved him, how the universe itself could not compare to him if Keith didn’t say it.

Shiro’s hand came up to grasp Keith’s over his chest, squeezing it lightly. “I know. I love you too.”

Keith laid his head on Shiro’s shoulder, just… wanting.

“It is a day of remembrance. Good and bad,” Shiro reminded gently. He knew that Shiro had noticed how quiet he’d been, the tension that still hadn’t left his body.

Shiro had known how he felt about his father. He’d hated his father after his death, feeling abandoned at first, like his father had left him just like his mother had. It was really just a front for his grief. 

When he’d acknowledged that, all that was left was missing him, and anger at the universe for all the injustice it dealt him.

But letting it all out now, to Shiro, who would never look at him with pity or regret, it settled a part of him he didn’t even know about.

He felt Shiro press a kiss to his hair, his left arm curling solidly around him. It meant a lot to him that Shiro’s reaction to hearing his truths, to seeing who he really was, and instead of leaving, he only pulled Keith closer. 

Shiro was patient as he waited for Keith to tell him what he was still holding back. 

It was something he’d always known about Shiro, it was the only way they could have stayed friends in the beginning. Shiro had been the first to ever do that, patiently waiting for whatever piece of himself he gave and asking for nothing more, letting Keith let him in on his own terms.

It took time, sharing his tumultuous feelings about his mother. He described how he’d just learnt that she cared about him after all, that she’d left to protect him, not because she didn’t want him. But that it didn’t make the abandonment he’d felt all those years stop hurting just because he knew now.

Her leaving had cemented a deep fear of being left behind and abandoned in him.

Knowing that she cared only made him wonder how things could have been different if she’d never left.

Sensing the bleak mood that had overtaken him, Shiro just squeezed him even tighter, and began teeling Keith humorous anecdotes about Alfor and Shiro’s days training with him.

When Keith laughed at Shiro’s first attempts to swing a sword, he felt a surge of love for Shiro. It was all well and good to imagine how things could have been different, but he realized that he liked where he was now. 

And besides, he thought as he glanced at Shiro, a different past might have meant he wouldn’t have met Shiro, and he wouldn’t give that up for anything.

The night passed by quickly that way, and Keith even managed to share a few good memories of his father. It felt good to think of the past without the haze of pain it usually brought.

It was almost dawn when Keith felt Shiro dragging him closer until he was on Shiro’s lap, pulling him down for a kiss Keith was only too glad to reciprocate. 

“I’m glad you’re here with me, Keith.” 

As he watched the lights float through the sky in a dance of their own from his place in Shiro’s arms, he squeezed Shiro’s hand in his and said, “I am too.”

They’d spent so much time talking about the past, remembering, but all it did was make Keith even more certain of his future. That he wanted his future to be with Shiro.

They sat there in contentment for the rest of the night, until dawn finally broke.

  


*****

  


After the Day of Lights, it cemented his decision to take the next step in his relationship with Shiro. 

He’d never really thought of marriage before, dismissing it as something unimportant, but with Shiro now, he realized that he wanted everything. Shiro as his, and him as Shiro’s, for the rest of their lives…

But first he needed to prepare some things, and for that he needed some assistance.

“Allura, I need your help.” Keith breathed slowly, before he started second-guessing himself and turned his comm off. It took enough courage just asking for help, he couldn’t bear it if she started making fun of him. “I’m sorry, you must be busy, I know you’ve been trying to implement some new changes–”

“Of course I’ll help you, Keith!” Allura huffed. “What do you need me to do?”

“I need a ring for Shiro. I thought I’d ask you to make it with alchemy, but I just realized it would have more meaning if I made it myself. So I need you to teach me how to make one for Shiro.”

“Keith… Are you proposing?” Allura’s voice got excited for a moment, before she realized what he was asking. “That’s a wonderful idea but I can’t promise–”

It was a long shot. He was only half-Altean, and it didn’t even mean he could perform any Altean alchemy. But to be able to make this special for Shiro… it would be worth any number of failed attempts.

“I know,” he interrupted. “I just... have to try. It’s for Shiro.”

“Oh, if it’s for Shiro, I’m sure it’ll work.” He could hear her smirk over the comm. “There isn’t anything your stubbornness can’t defeat, after all.” Her tone went business-like again. “Now I suppose you’ll want it to be a surprise? I can come to Daibazaal tomorrow to help you. It would help if you knew what materials you wanted to use–”

He listened intently as Allura talked, making notes in his mind. Everything would be perfect for Shiro.

It was good to have friends.

  


*****

  


After Allura’s agreement, he deliberated over the ring as he prepared for bed. 

Shiro was still on Altea and Keith missed him with every fiber of his being, but it did make it easier to plan everything out in secret. Hundreds of materials went through his mind, but he already knew what he wanted to use. He would have to call in another favour from Allura though, and possibly Hunk.

The next day, he headed down to the hangar for the most important part. 

With both his grandfather and his master gone, there was no one left for Keith to ask their blessing from, but Black probably counted as family, considering the way she treated them both. And what he needed specifically from Black was a part of her body, for the metal to be shaped into a ring. It would hold so much significance to them both.

“Hey, Black,” he greeted with a fond pat to her muzzle. “I know it’s been a while since we took you out, but things have been pretty peaceful for a change.”

He got the impression that if the Lions could have expressions, Black’s would be decidedly unimpressed. The feeling of something (im)patiently waiting was projected over the bond, and he was reminded to get to the point.

“Right,” Keith said sheepishly. “I want to ask Shiro to marry me,” he confessed abruptly. “There’s no one to ask their blessings from, not for either of us, but I wanted to know if you approved.” 

Black had become rather important to them both. Besides being a rather important companion, Black was also a symbol of their bond.

Rather than the surprise he'd been waiting for or even worse, recrimination that he’d half-expected– there was a distinct feeling of 'finally!' coming across the bond.

He wasn’t sure if he should feel offended or not by the tone. Apparently he was so obvious even his Lion had seen it.

But he was too relieved to have her approval to make a fuss about it.

“I want to make something special for him for the ring, and nothing fits better than something from you. Can you help me, Black?” Sometimes he still didn’t understand the lion, and he doubted he ever fully would.

After a moment, Black’s eyes glowed and when she opened her jaw, it dropped a small strip of metal into his hand.

He gripped it tightly and gratefully patted Black again with his free hand. “Thanks, Black.”

  


*****

  


Once the ring was done, he made arrangements for the night in question. And once that was finished, all that was left was to wait.

The night he’d chosen to propose to Shiro was perfect. He’d coaxed Shiro into a trip to Altea, to stargaze like they used to when they were kids.

“I promised you we’d see the stars together. It just took us a little time, that’s all,” Shiro said, referring to a promise they’d made when they were younger, that they would fly together and see the stars.

It was amazing how they’d ended up doing it anyway, years after they’d parted.

They sat by the lake, Keith lying against Shiro as he waited for the comet to appear.

Suddenly, Shiro asked him to face him and close his eyes.

When he opened them, Shiro was kneeling and holding out a ring.

It was made from metal from the Black Lion, and luxite, the material his sword was made from. For a second, he wondered how Shiro had gotten his hands on luxite, before he realized what Shiro was doing.

“I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you make me the happiest man in the universe by marrying me?”

Keith was struck speechless, all at once too overwhelmed for words, and also feeling like he shouldn’t be surprised Shiro had completely ruined his plans. He should’ve expected it, really.

But he’d been planning his proposal for months now, and he didn’t want to let go of it just yet.

He was going to do something extremely controversial and eschew tradition, rank and proper respect for his station. 

As emperor, he was above all, always, his dominance was absolute. He was never to show submission, but he felt that this would represent his feelings better.

He kneeled with one knee on the ground, like a soldier swearing absolute fealty to his king in ancient times and brought out the ring. The worry on Shiro’s face transformed into something tender.

“Takashi… You’re everything. I love you.”

“Keith–” Shiro said, sounding choked up, “–Yes, of course, yes!”

The ring was made from metal from the Black Lion, with a Altean/Balmeran crystal set in the middle, forged by Altean alchemy. It wasn’t just an ordinary ring, it could become a power source if Shiro ever needed it.

Shiro had said that Keith would be making him the happiest man in the universe, but Shiro was wrong.

Nobody could possibly be happier than he was right then.

  


*****

  


Keith had passed on the wedding planning duties to his friends after they’d insisted on taking over He allowed them to plan everything, only putting his foot down when it came to the ceremony, the vows, and the traditional dance.

They’d decided to hold their wedding on the first day of the new year, for a new beginning. The days leading up to the wedding passed by in a blur, though it still felt far too slow for Keith.

Somehow, despite their teasing, their friends had made sure everything was perfect, exactly the way he and Shiro would have wanted it.

Due to his status as the emperor, he was left to wait at the altar as Shiro walked down the aisle to him.

As the music started, a Galra-Altean fusion love song, he found himself blinking back tears, as he waited for his first glimpse of Shiro in days. His friends had insisted on them not seeing each other before the wedding, going so far as to kidnap Shiro in Red so they couldn’t sneak past.

  
  
  


The song slowed down to almost a whisper as Shiro appeared in his vision, and immediately everything else just faded away.

Somehow, he survived Shiro’s walk down the aisle without tearing up, only to start crying when Shiro took his hands in his and kissed them gently.

His vision was blurry, but he smiled through his tears when he noticed that Shiro was crying too. Their foreheads touched before they both wiped each other’s tears away, hands lingering where they touched, before they felt ready to proceed with the ceremony.

Shiro started with his vows, beginning with a traditional Altean style, 

_“Everything I am is yours. Everything you are is mine._

_Your victories and your losses, your sorrows and your delights, your hardships and your ease will be mine, and mine will be yours._

_I love you for all that you are now and all that you will be._

__

_You found me when I was lost, you never gave up on me, you accepted me when I couldn’t accept myself, and fought for me, even when I couldn’t._

_You saved me, and I can never thank you enough for it._

_My first, last and always._

_ I swear to love and cherish you, for better or for worse, till death do us part."_

Shiro’s vows were beautiful, and Keith could feel his eyes getting watery again. But now it was time for Shiro to hear what he wanted to pledge.

His voice the slightest bit cracked, he began his vows,

_”Everything you are is mine. Everything I am is yours._

_Now_

_Your strength is my strength_

_Your pain is my pain_

_Your battles are my battles_

_Your joy is my joy_

_Your love is my love_

_Your future is my future_

_Your life is my life_

_Your death is my death_

_You saved me, in every way a person can be saved. You believed in me when no one else would, you made me a better person. I don’t know who i would be without you._

_A life without you would not be one worth living._

_I swear to live and die by your side, to love you for the rest of my life and forevermore._

_ I love you."_

Shiro covered his mouth, tears spilling down his face. Seeing Shiro cry opened the floodgates for Keith’s tears as well, and they both just stood there, sobbing at the altar. 

He didn’t think he’d ever seen Shiro look as beautiful as he did then.

Through his tears, he reached out to Shiro, pulling him down into a kiss they would both never forget.

Allura cleared her throat several times but he still didn’t pull away from Shiro.

Once they’d finally separated, gazes still locked on each other, Allura sighed and said, “I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband again.” 

Keith smiled. He didn’t have a problem with that.

  


*****

  


It was time for their first wedding dance.

They faced each other, arms intertwined, Keith's left hand on Shiro's right shoulder and vice versa. As the song began, they spun around in slow circles, eyes blind to the rest of the world. 

At that moment, to him, there was only Shiro.

Their hands trailed down from each other's shoulders to grasp each other in a firm clasp, as they spun together, like binary stars orbiting each other.

When the traditional part of the dance was over, Shiro didn’t let him go. He just adjusted his position and pulled Keith even closer to him. Keith’s head was the perfect height to rest on Shiro’s chest.

They swayed together like that, soft and happy, until Keith let go to pull Shiro into a kiss.

  
  
  



	5. we saved each other

As the years passed, the team came together less and less. They were older, with their own responsibilities and families, even though a distress call would have them all gathering. But since the existence of Voltron, they’d created an era of peace and prosperity throughout the universe.

Keith was happy with his life. Even with the growing struggles of supporting an Empire without taking advantage of other planets, he had everything he wanted.

All because of Shiro.

However, nothing lasted forever, and one day, it all came crashing down.

Shiro went missing after a mission. He hadn’t been worried at first; Shiro had informed him that he was going on a mission like he did every time and Keith had let him go without a fuss, already missing him.

But when he received an emergency transmission from Shiro’s ship, he immediately knew something was wrong.

He left his meeting without another word, racing towards the hangar.

Shiro always flew alone if Keith wasn’t with him. It was a habit of his, but now it was something he cursed.

For once, he hadn’t taken Black, so Keith couldn’t be somewhat assured of his safety. Taking Black, he flew to Shiro’s last known location transmitted by the ship. The journey was made in record time, both him and Black pushing themselves in concern for Shiro.

His blood ran cold when all they could find was wreckage and scrap metal. For a moment, he could only hope that it wasn’t Shiro’s, but he recognized the ship, even though it was mostly scrap metal now.

No matter how much he kept trying, even with the Black Lion’s help, the scanners didn’t find any hint of Shiro.

Hours later, he came back without Shiro, with a feeling that things would only get worse from there.

  


*****

  


Keith flew out multiple times over the next few days, searching for Shiro, hoping that this time, this time he would find him. It was a hopeless mission; the wreckage never showed a hint of Shiro and there wasn’t even a trail he could follow to lead him to Shiro.

Every time he came back empty handed, his frustration and anger built up.

Months passed, and without Shiro there Keith felt like he’d lost his center. He had little patience for the frustration of ruling, or his friends’ demands for him to join them on any missions.

They’d learnt early on that with two paladins, Black was able to switch off between them if one of them wasn’t available. They had differing styles and it was usually fairly easy to tell, but they worked best together.

They always had.

But with Shiro gone, Keith felt like he was falling apart slowly but no one else could notice.

It didn’t help that they hadn’t been able to form Voltron since Shiro had disappeared. Keith had refused to try after the last time, given how bad the backlash had been. The others didn’t say anything to him but he knew it was his fault.

Still, missions kept coming and people didn’t stop needing saving just because Keith’s world was collapsing. He still came to help them, he could Shiro’s voice in his head chiding him for refusing his responsibilities.

But the longer they went on without Shiro, the more the team started talking about trying to form Voltron again. 

He couldn’t blame them for their impatience. 

As impressive as the Lions were, it was Voltron that had become the true legend. Fighting without Voltron took much more time and the planetary leaders they met all wanted the sight of Voltron, Defender of The Universe. They’d been staving off the demands for as long as they could.

The fact that he understood that didn’t mean he appreciated it much though.

When Allura started to talk about trying to form Voltron again for the fifth time in a week, he snapped.

“We don’t have Shiro anymore. Everyone seems to have forgotten that.”

“It may be difficult for us to accept, but we need to try. Voltron is needed. We’ve formed Voltron before without Shiro. Things may be different now but it should work,” she said, calmly sidestepping the question of who was to blame. “Even without Shiro,” she added gently.

Keith was one the verge of saying that they should find someone else to pilot the Black Lion, knowing he was the one at fault, but he stopped himself before he could say it. 

It felt too personal to allow someone else into the lion. The lion he’d shared with Shiro, the representation of their bond. Shiro had always been the one with the stronger bond to the lion, he’d been the one to guide Keith with his own bond to Black, he wasn’t going to give it up to anyone else, not if he could help it.

“No! I’m going to find him,” he said instead. “Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me, I won’t give up on him.”

He left the room, tension practically vibrating in his body.

The others don’t mention it again for the rest of their stay on the Castle, staying out of the way and giving him space. It worked. He was almost back to normal, or at least as calm as he could get with the situation by the time they had to meet the planetary leaders they were trying to form an alliance with.

The meeting ran smoothly, until they began talking about seeing Voltron. Rumours had been flying around about Voltron’s lack of appearances over the past few months, so they were all eager to see the legendary defender for themselves.

It all went downhill when they insisted on Voltron anyway even after hearing his protests.

“We can’t form Voltron, okay? We can fly the lions but Voltron is not happening.”   
  
Allura tried to recover the meeting, assuring them that things would get better soon. Hearing them all speak of Voltron was like rubbing salt in the wound.   
  
“But nothing! Shiro is gone. He was the Black Lion and until we find him there is no Voltron.”   
  
The representatives interrupted with their concerns and problems, but Keith couldn’t take it anymore. “Tell them to stand up and fight for themselves! Voltron is gone!” Keith stormed out.

Somehow, instead of heading to the Castle’s official hangar so he could leave, he ended up at Black’s hangar. The walk had calmed him a little, enough that he felt bad for taking out his frustrations on them. He’d thought he’d grown out of his explosive temper, having settled more after he’d matured, but apparently not.

He stared at the Black Lion’s prone form. 

The others found him there some time later, fists clenched and unmoving.

He could feel the weight of their looks on his back, but he didn’t say anything. If they wanted to talk, they would have to approach him first.

“Keith, listen. We all miss Shiro,” Lance said, looking up at the lion. 

Keith held back his irritation, hoping he’d get to the point. But as soon as Lance started recounting all the things he’d done with Shiro, he lost interest. Pidge and Hunk swept in with their own contributions but Keith just couldn’t bring himself to care. 

How could they ever understand what Shiro meant to him?

“I know you love him, but you’re not the only one hurting, man. We’re all right there with you. But you know he would be the first one to tell us that we have to move on.”

Keith looked at Lance grimly. He knew they were trying to move on, but it felt like they were giving up on Shiro.

_ He’s not dead _ , Keith wanted to say,  _ I would  _ know _. _

But if he said anything, would they even understand?

“Keith, I know exactly how you feel,” Allura said. “But our mission is bigger than any one individual. Even those who are  _ completely  _ irreplaceable.” 

At least Allura seemed to get it. 

He understood the importance of what they were doing. He did. It was just so hard without Shiro there. But reconnecting with the team, saving the universe… it was what Shiro would want, and he hated to disappoint Shiro even more than he already had.

“I know you’re right,” he said, grief bubbling up inside him before he shoved it down completely. “It’s time to figure out how to reform Voltron.”

The others gave him a pat in the back before leaving for their own lion’s hangars.

Keith walked into Black slowly, feeling a weight settle on him as he sat in the pilot seat, the empty seat beside him mocking him.

“I can’t do this without him. Black… please…” he begged. “I need him,” he said, in a way that was softer than how he’d spoken to the others.

The Black Lion had no answer for him, only brushing against his mind with concern.

The others were waiting for him, depending on him, he didn’t want to let them down. He’d let so many people down already.

As he looked around the cockpit, so many memories came to mind, all of them of Shiro, and it hurt.

But Shiro would tell him to try. Shiro would  _ want  _ him to try.

Patience yields focus, or something like that.

So instead of focusing on his grief, he focused on his love for Shiro, and let it guide him.

The lions roared in unison before they all leapt into the air and flew out of their hangars into formation.

When the dust settled, they’d formed Voltron.

For once, he felt like Shiro would be proud to see him now. When Shiro got back, he would make sure to tell him.

  


*****

  


As time passed though, it became increasingly clear to everyone that not everything had been resolved between them.

Keith still came on missions, and forming Voltron wasn’t a problem anymore, but his search for Shiro became even more desperate. Despite everyone’s words, he couldn’t bring himself to give up the search any more than he could breathing.

Even after it seemed that his and the team’s relationship had been repaired, he still found himself lashing out at them anyway when they tried to counsel him again.

He knew that he was running himself ragged, with the search and ruling and missions, even with his elite Blades helping out with the search, but he couldn’t stop himself. At least the exhaustion at the end of each day let him sleep in relative peace without Shiro beside him.

Not mention that the quintessence experiments were still going strong, and he’d directed more his attention to them in an effort to leave the energy problems he’d been having for the empire behind.

On every side of the equation, he was having problems, especially with the problems that had been plaguing Daibazaal for a while now, with the earthquakes and the planet’s destabilizing core.

So when Allura came to visit and notified him that her researchers had figured out that the earthquakes were linked to the experiments they were doing on the rift and urged him to stop, Keith could only laugh grimly.

It was far too late to stop anything now, and the empire needed the energy provided by the quintessence, now more than ever as a model spacefaring race.

They shared some heated words over it and the truth came rushing out from Allura, how the team was concerned about his changes and how he was going to become a dictator, that he wasn’t the man they’d called their friend and leader.

Keith would have said some cutting things himself had they not been interrupted by Kolivan and Ulaz, two of his Blades with urgent important news.

With a cold glare at Allura, he dismissed her before telling them to continue.

Allura marched out of the room as Kolivan began explaining how they’d found a spy in High Command, with evidence that they had committed treasonous activities against the Empire.

“We have reason to believe that Sendak was involved in Shiro’s disappearance,” Kolivan said.

Keith’s eyes sharpened. “Sendak?” he hissed. He’d never liked Sendak, found him arrogant and far too vicious at times, but he’d never expected Sendak to be traitor. As far as he knew, Sendak was loyal to Galra, and to the Empire.

But, he realized, if Sendak was involved in Shiro’s disappearance, there was a high chance that he would know where Shiro currently was.

He refused to even consider the thought that Shiro might be dead.

He was furious, there was nothing he hated more than traitors, but for the first time in a year, he had a smidgen of hope. All thoughts of the rift destabilizing his planet were gone, the only thing that mattered now was confronting the traitor and finding Shiro.

  


*****

  


In his throne room, seated on the throne he didn’t care about and all too aware of the empty one to his left, he scanned the faces of his commanders.

Trained as they all were, they didn’t shift as long moments passed without him saying a word, but he could tell the tension was getting to them. The situation was eerily reminiscent of the air in his grandfather’s court before he ordered an execution.

In fact, it pretty much  _ was _ the same situation.

“I knew there were traitors in my court, traitors to the  _ Galra _ , but I never thought it would come from one of my most trusted.”

It was a performance, and for once, it was one he was happy to give.

He let his gaze rest on each and every one of them before it finally stopped on Sendak.

“Sendak… My own commander,” he growled.

Kolivan and Antok walked up to Sendak, restraining him.

“You conspired with enemy forces and were implicated in the death of the previous emperor. You betrayed my husband and sent him straight into a trap, capturing him and torturing him for over a year! Not only did you commit treason but you also betrayed me! What do you have to say for yourself?” he demanded.

“He makes you weak,” Sendak spat, not bothering to feign innocence. “ _ Love _ makes you weak. So keen to keep peace with the Alteans, you’ve grown weaker and weaker, all to keep that monster you call husband happy with you. What happened to our warrior Emperor? You are Galra, son of the desert sky! But then again… you aren’t all Galra, are you.  _ Half-breed. _ You are no emperor of mine, and betraying you is no dishonour. I have not betrayed the Galra, I am saving you from yourselves!”

Keith’s eyes grew even colder. “Traitor. You know the punishment for treason, don’t you Sendak? Death and dishonour. You will be executed, and all your accomplishments will be erased from history. Your legacy will be short and empty.”

“Vrepit sa,  _ Emperor _ ,” Sendak said mockingly.

“Take him away. I want to know everything, especially where they’re keeping Shiro,” Keith ordered. 

“To the rest of you, let this be your warning. I do not take betrayal lightly, and should any one of you dare to try, I will make your eventual death seem like a  _ mercy _ .”

He slammed his sword into the floor right in front of them, cracks forming beneath the blade. 

Satisfied that he’d hammered his point in, he swept away from the throne room. He was so close to finding Shiro, he wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.

He didn’t trust anyone to deal with Sendak either.

He longed to cut Sendak down, but that was a decision better left in Shiro’s hands.

And depending on what Sendak told him, he had better hope Shiro was alright because if he wasn’t… Keith would have no reason to hold back anymore.

  


*****

  


After Keith was done with Sendak, he wasted no time flying Black to Altea, landing close to the coordinates he’d pried loose from Sendak’s unwilling mind.

The flight took minutes at most, and a jittery feeling had made itself at home in his body. After a year of searching, and losing himself, he was so close to finding Shiro. He just wanted the constant ache and emptiness to be gone.

The facility they’d been keeping Shiro in wasn’t a part of Altea he’d been to before, and at first glance, it appeared to be a normal facility, but he recognised it for what it was immediately. 

There was a strange feeling around the area that prickled at his awareness.

Something…  _ wrong. _

After everything, he didn’t have the patience to be subtle or restrained. He set off a few explosions where he’d landed, to draw out whoever was guarding the facility. He took out the remaining guards quickly, leaving their unconscious bodies where they fell. 

The deeper he ventured into the building, the stronger the feeling of wrongness grew. It was becoming harder for him to continue. The number of guards also increased, and any hope of subtlety had been definitively thrown out the window.

At last, he came across a restricted laboratory area. Despite the feeling of utter wrongness coming from it. He couldn’t shake the gut feeling that he needed to go there.

Keith found Shiro strapped to a gurney, restrained and injured, being studied by several Altean alchemists. He wasted no time cutting them all down, holding nothing back, before running to Shiro’s side.

“Shiro?” His voice trembled as he said it.

Shiro remained unconscious and unresponsive when Keith touched his face gently, only stirring after Keith shook him gently a few times.

Shiro shot up and coughed several times, before listing to the side.

Keith caught him and held him carefully to his chest.

“You found me,” Shiro said, looking up to him, and the relief and gratitude in his voice made Keith feel sick to his stomach. He should have done something sooner, found Shiro earlier. This is all his fault and Shiro had to pay the price for it.

“I will always find you,” Keith vowed.

Now that he’d found Shiro, there was nothing he wanted more than to stay with him. “Let’s go home,” he said. 

Shiro’s smile grew and his eyes lit up, before he sank back into unconsciousness.

  


*****

  


With Shiro safely ensconced in their bed, Keith went to confront the only person who could get him what he wanted next after Shiro’s return.

Justice.

But Allura had other ideas.

“I want them dead!”

“Keith…” It sounded too much like pity for him to respond well to it.

“It is my right as the sovereign of an allied planet for me to demand retribution for the kidnapping and torture of my husband, and the heads of the perpetrators.  _ It’s my right as your friend to ask for your help in making the people who tortured my husband pay for their crimes! _ ”

“Your vengeance has no place here Keith!”

“This is not vengeance. This is justice.”

“Maybe she’s right, Keith,” Hunk said uncomfortably.

“What?”

“The heads of all those involved? Isn’t it a little too much?”

“I’m not asking for them all to be killed brutally, I just want them to be tried in my court for their crimes!”

"I can handle enforcing justice to people from my own planet,” Allura said frostily.

“I don't think you can,” Keith challenged. “Not only has this have been going on under your nose for so long, you’ll probably grant them mercy that they don’t deserve.”

“Your brutal  _ Galra _ tactics of war have no place here!”

“This kind of fighting is getting us nowhere,” Lance said reasonably, supporting his lover. “They are Altean, and that means they’re under Allura’s jurisdiction.”

“Their crimes are against Shiro!”

“Who’s also Altean,” Hunk reminded gently.

“He may be Altean, but he is my husband and Emperor of the Galra by my side. Isn’t he your friend too?”

“I’m sorry Keith, but I fear for the dark path you are on _. _ I can’t help but feel that if we release them to you, you’ll do something you regret. Something that can’t be taken back.”

His eyes flashed. “I see I will have no further support from you,” he said, before he swept from the room, cape swishing behind him.

When he got back to Daibazaal, Shiro was still in their bed. It was no surprise; Keith had stayed by his side the entire time, only leaving to see the team, but Shiro looked even worse now, and he cursed at himself for leaving at all.

He sat by Shiro’s side and touched his face gently, brushing his markings and the edges of the scar over his nose. 

No matter how upset he was at Shiro’s condition, he would never not be grateful for the fact that he had Shiro back with him.

Shiro woke to his ministrations and slowly smiled at him, so fond and gentle it almost brought him to tears. He leaned into Keith’s touch wordlessly, like he could sense how close Keith was to crying.

Keith could only move closer to Shiro, until their foreheads bumped together and they were close enough that he couldn’t see anything but Shiro.

“How many times are you going to have to save me before this is over?” Shiro asked, as if he didn’t already know the answer.

“As many times as it takes,” Keith promised.

It was a promise he would do anything to keep.

  


*****

  


Shiro was dying. 

They both knew it. 

As the hours passed, it became clear that he wasn’t getting better, only getting worse. It was like Shiro’s very life was draining, right in front of Keith.

But maybe there was something he could do about it. He couldn’t just give up on Shiro like this.

He left the room, not wanting to leave Shiro, but also not wanting to burden him with his tears. His thoughts were racing as he tried to think of any way to delay it, to save Shiro. He put his head in his hands when he came up blank .

Quintessence was life itself. What power could grant more life where there was none left?

He lifted his head from his hands when an idea occurred to him.

The rift… What Shiro needed was quintessence, his own being so depleted after what those monsters had done to him, but experiments had proved the rift to be full of unlimited quintessence. It could save Shiro.

It would be risky, dangerous to mess with something they didn’t know about… But it was for Shiro, and for Shiro, he would do anything.

But the rift was guarded, day in day out. There was no way to breach the security guarding it without his friends noticing and trying to stop him, and no way to enter and later exit the rift safely, unless... 

_ Voltron _ .

He burned when he remembered how his friends had reacted to his demands for justice. 

Would they support him if they knew what he was willing to do to save Shiro?

...No. Not after how they’d tried to counsel him into giving mercy to the ones who were slowly killing his husband even now. 

He’d trusted them once, loved them like family.

But he only had Shiro now.

  


*****

  


“My planet is dying,” Keith forced out. “I was wrong to dismiss your concerns. We need to close the rift, it is the only way. I see that now. I hope that by closing it, we may be able to able to mend the rift in my planet… and our friendship.”

The others shared looks, before nodding at him. “We will help.”

He offered his hand to Allura, trying not to think about what he was risking.

She looked at him for a good long moment, before she finally accepted it.

“How is Shiro?” she asked, face softening in concern.

His face shuttered closed for a moment, before returning to the calm seriousness they were used to. “Resting. He still has a long way to go before he’s fully recovered.”

“Alright. I’ll see you at the entrance once you’ve prepared?”

“Yes.”

Allura turned and strided away.

“I’m sorry, but I have to do this,” he whispered. He would burn the wavering bridges with his friends if it meant that his husband would be safe. The rift between them would be widened irreparably, but he didn’t care.

After all, he’d made a promise.

  


*****

  


Carefully carrying Shiro into the Black Lion, he tried not to think about the consequences of his decision.

Tricking his friends like this was something he would’ve never done before, but Shiro… Shiro needed this, and he would do anything for Shiro.

Piloting Black as carefully as he could with Shiro lying on his lap, he readied himself for what he was about to do.

For the last time, he said, “Form Voltron!”

His team started talking about the rift as soon as they all connected.

“Shiro had theorized before about how to close the rift after we began studying it. We need to use its energy to close it, but we need to expand it first.” The lies just rolled off his tongue without a care.

“How do we do that?”

“We use the sword.”

For the last time, he used his bayard to form Voltron’s sword and cleaved the rift open.

A brilliant explosion of light blinded him and when he came to, he realized that they were inside the rift and that Voltron had split back into five lions.

He disregarded everyone’s questions, tuning out his comm, before he took off his helmet and carried Shiro out of Black’s jaws.

He immediately felt the effects of the rift around them. He felt revitalized, stronger and more powerful than he’d ever been before, but he could only think of Shiro, hoping that it would work.

Suddenly, a formless darkness surged around them, engulfing them.

Shiro, his love, his everything, was the last thing he could think of before oblivion swallowed him.

  


****

*********

  


Consciousness came all at once. 

He could hardly remember how he’d blacked out in the first place, only that his body felt better than it ever had before. He reached out to his side, hoping to feel the warmth of his husband–

_ Shiro! _

His hands met thin air, and memories came rushing back. Shiro dying– Keith’s desperate last try– fooling his friends into going through the rift– carrying Shiro out through Black’s mouth– then just  _ darkness. _

He sat up quickly, frantic and desperate to find his husband. He scanned the room, until his eyes landed on a cot a few feet from his, carrying Shiro.

Painstakingly, he stumbled over to Shiro’s cot.

Shiro had still been wearing the clothing he’d worn as a prisoner when Keith had brought him into the rift. Apparently, his former friends had changed Shiro into his paladin armour. And his hair–

Shiro’s hair, normally black with white bangs, was now fully white. He’d never looked more Altean.

“Takashi…” Keith said gently. It was a relief to see Shiro’s chest moving like normal, breathing easily. Somehow, he managed to drag his eyes from Shiro long enough to realize he didn’t recognize where they were, even if the purple glow of their surroundings said it was probably somewhere on Daibazaal. 

He walked to the door and opened it, hoping to find someone who could tell him where they were.

Luckily, a sentry had been posted right outside the door.

“Where am I?” he asked the sentry.

“Aboard your ship, sir.”

“Take us home.”

“I can’t, sir. Daibazaal is... gone.”

“Gone?!”

“While you were–” the sentry gulped “–dead, Queen Allura issued a planet-wide evacuation order. With you and Emperor Shiro gone, we had no other choice. As of a few hours ago… Daibazaal was destroyed.”

“And my people?”

“We were taken to Altea. Queen Allura offered us all shelter here, now that our home has been destroyed. It is where we are now, my liege. The queen offered to host your burial rites here herself, as a sign of respect.”

The anger that consumed him was sudden and vicious. He wanted nothing more than to repay Allura for what she had done to him.

Keith laughed darkly. “Respect? This isn’t respect.” 

“My liege?” the guard asked weakly.

“Altea has taken everything from me! My husband, my planet, and now my people. We will not stand for this! Victory or Death! Are you with me, Lieutenant?”

“Vrepit sa!”

“Vrepit sa,” he acknowledged.

Now it was time to take back everything Altea had stolen from him. Beginning with his husband.

So Allura had destroyed his planet, he thought, baring his teeth. Now he would take hers.

With one last glance at Shiro’s still unconscious body, he left for the bridge to make an announcement to his people.

“My fellow Galra,” he drawled, channeling the rage he felt at the moment, “Queen Allura of Altea has destroyed our planet. She has betrayed us, despite the long friendship we once shared! Rise up and join your emperor! Justice will be ours! Victory or Death!”

“Vrepit sa!” the officers gathered around him saluted. He could hear the echoes of his people affirming their loyalty to him. He hoped Allura was feeling exactly what he had felt that day.

_ Fear. _

  


*****

  


Keith returned to the room he had woken up in after confirming the first of his people to join his fleet.

He had not expected to find Shiro gone from the cot when he arrived.

He spun around, looking for Shiro and finally found him at the other side of the room with a blank look on his face.

“Shiro?” he asked cautiously. Was he alright now? Did he remember what happened?

There was an eerie purple glow in Shiro’s eyes, one he’d never seen before. Shiro looked at him, but for the first time, it felt like Shiro wasn’t seeing him at all.

“Shiro, it’s going to be alright,” he tried. He was worried now.

Shiro was still looking at him like he didn’t recognize Keith, before the purple glow in his eyes brightened. Keith watched in horror as Shiro came rushing at him, his arm glowing a deadly magenta and barely managed to bring up a shield in time.

The attack forced him back into the wall and Shiro came swinging at him again. 

Keith dodged and manifested his Marmora Blade, all the while wondering what had gone wrong.

Shiro kept attacking him and Keith was forced to defend himself, until a particularly brutal hit sent him flying through the floor onto a lower platform on the ship. He managed to activate his jetpack just in time to slow down his fall and land on his feet.

He looked up and jumped out of the way as seconds later, Shiro was flying down on his position with a brutal punch.

For some reason, Shiro was acting like Keith was a threat to him, Shiro was trying to  _ kill _ him.

Shiro emerged from the dust with a cold look and formed a sword with his metal arm, before swinging it straight at Keith. 

Their blades clashed together, but the force of the hit sent Keith falling down the stairs to the platform and Shiro just kept coming.

To his horror, Shiro didn’t seem to care what he was cutting up in order to get to Keith, so the entire ship was fair game for him to destroy. 

When Keith finally managed to land a punch, Shiro blocked it with his metal arm and rammed his fist up Keith’s jaw, sending his head snapping up and his helmet flying. Shiro tried landing a few more hits but Keith dodged them every time, too used to Shiro’s fighting style.

Of course, Shiro had never been fighting to kill then.

Shiro countered his moves like he knew what Keith was going to do before he did.

Keith jumped off the platform but Shiro just followed after him, wrapping his arms around him in a poor facsimile of a hug. They caught onto a rope as they fought each other mid-air but Shiro came crashing down to the floor first. As he looked up, Keith swung down from his, kicking them both off the platform.

He swung his sword at Shiro, no longer holding back the force of his blows. It was getting harder and harder to restrain himself.

As their blades locked together, Keith could see the purple in Shiro’s eyes even clearer, as Shiro said with a smirk, “That’s the Keith I remember.” 

It was the first hint he’d had that Shiro recognized him since they’d both woken up from the rift.

Shiro’s words shocked him out of the feral state he’d begun to slip into, and Shiro used it to his advantage as he twisted their swords around and promptly disarmed Keith.

Keith dodged every single swing of Shiro’s sword as he raced towards his blade, blocking one swing before dodging another that brought the entire structure he’d been backed up against falling down. 

He knew that he wouldn’t last much longer like this.

“Shiro, I know you’re in there. You made me a promise once. You told me you’d never give up on me!” The pain in his voice was palpable.  _ Please _ , he wanted to beg,  _ come back to me _ .

“I should’ve abandoned you like your parents did. They saw that you were broken! Worthless! I should’ve seen it too. How could I have ever thought you were worth loving?”

The vitriol in Shiro’s words was just another hint that something was wrong. The Shiro he knew would never have said that to him, had supported him through everything. So he stood tall. He wasn’t giving up on Shiro, no matter what.

“I’m not leaving here without you.”

“Actually, you won’t be leaving at all,” Shiro said ominously.

Shiro’s arm had started sparking lightning earlier but now the light had consumed it entirely, sending Shiro to the ground with shouts of pain and agony.

“Shiro!” he called out worriedly.

Shiro’s arm started to glow before blasting a hole down his ship like an ion cannon. The cannon began to cut away everything in its way, splitting the very ground beneath Keith. A portion of his ship came apart completely, severed from the rest of the ship.

Keith looked from the carnage to Shiro in horror. He jumped off the platform just before the ion blast cut it down in half.

He fell to the platform below with a grunt and when he looked up, Shiro was pointing his arm straight at him. He leapt to avoid it but it just kept going, destroying everything around him and he just couldn’t escape. The entire platform was cut off from the ship now and he slid down and managed to jump off before some of the wreckage hit him.

It was luck that had him catching on to the lowest platform and using it to pull himself up. His sword was buried in the floor but he just couldn’t muster the strength to get up and take it. Somehow, he managed to gather the strength to crawl to it and reach out before his arms gave up on him.

Shiro landed on the platform in front of him with a thud. As he activated his energy sword, he swung at Keith and Keith forced himself to grab the blade and blocked Shiro’s attack.

His arms were straining from the effort of holding Shiro back, all the pain and exhaustion from their fight just now catching up to him.

“Shiro, please,” he begged. He almost didn’t recognize the Shiro in front of him anymore.

Shiro snarled and drove his blade against Keith’s even harder, and it was slowly driving Keith’s blade back.

Shiro was going to kill him. 

“Takashi, you’re my everything.  _ I love you _ .”

For just a second, he saw something different in Shiro’s eyes, before the glow faded and he was the Shiro Keith remembered again.

Shiro kept driving the blade deeper against Keith’s, until Keith was barely holding it back.

“Let me go, Keith,” Shiro begged, voice full of pain. “You don’t have to keep fighting anymore. Just let me go. We can die together.”

Didn't Shiro know by now? Keith could never let him go. Never.

He didn't even have the energy to shake his head, pinned down as he was. 

Shiro’s blade was burning a scar into his face that hurt more with every passing second, but it was Shiro's face that gave him the strength to call his bayard at the last second and cut off Shiro's arm before it could kill him.

Keith stood with both his blades in his hands, watching Shiro mournfully. He wasn’t going to give up on Shiro. Not now, not ever.

Shiro fell back after a pained groan, looking up until his eyes met Keith’s.

“Keith…” Shiro said, sounding broken and hopeless.

He never got the chance to hear what Shiro wanted to say next as the ship exploded around them. The fight between them had destroyed most of his ship, but the resulting explosions left them both scrambling for balance as the whole world fell apart around them. 

Somehow, he’d managed to grab hold of the fallen platform, leaving him dangling on the edge of space holding Shiro up, unprotected.

He looked to Shiro before looking back at the blade keeping them tethered to the platform. He tried with all his strength to drag Shiro up but the blade slid down, their combined weight too much to bear. They were still dangling from the edge, with no way up, and he just couldn’t see a way out of this.

He’d risked so much to bring Shiro back, but they were going to die like this. He risked one last look at Shiro, before the ship exploded around them.

At least Shiro remembered him now. At least they would die together. There was no other way he would rather die than beside Shiro.

He didn’t even consider letting go.

As they fell through space, his eyes never left Shiro’s. If he had to die then, he wanted to die with Shiro’s face as the last thing he saw.

He closed his eyes.

Memories flashed through his mind of the first time he’d met Shiro, all culminating to why he loved Shiro so much. Watching him leave, finding him, fulfilling their dreams together, flying together with the lion they both loved, marrying him…

An early conversation between them crossed his mind, one of Shiro supporting him, promising that he would never give up on Keith, but that more importantly, Keith couldn’t give up on himself either.

_ Keith hadn’t been expecting to be invited to join in. He had been resolutely not watching the older boy surrounded by the other kids all wanting to try out his cool new hoverbike. _

_ He’d watched enviously at first, wanting nothing more than to join in himself but he knew they wouldn’t take his presence kindly. Not the parents and not the other kids. _

_ But apparently the older boy, who’d introduced himself as Takashi earlier, had noticed his longing looks and wanted him to try? He accepted the keys carefully, just waiting for someone to snatch them out his hands, but Takashi only helped him onto the bike with a gentle smile. _

_ Takashi had set up obstacles around the park, but so far, no one had been able to get past the third.  _

_ But when he was in the air, everything seemed to click and he knew exactly what to do to get past them all, just by following his instincts. _

_ When he got back, they were all watching with awed looks, but none more than Takashi himself. _

_ But then one of the parents started berating Takashi, telling him that Keith was a problem child, that he wasn’t like the other children. _

_ Keith’s hands curled around the handlebars the longer they kept talking, until finally his whole body had tensed up. He should’ve known this would happen. He’d just hoped… that this time would be different. _

_ Well if it was a problem child they wanted, a problem child they would get. _

_ He revved the engine, flying straight out of the park on the stolen hoverbike. _

_ For a moment, he felt bad about doing that to Takashi, who’d been nothing but nice to him, but maybe it was better to push him away, before he let Takashi in and Takashi left him. In the end, Takashi would be just like everyone else. _

_ But Takashi was someone who existed to surprise him, because an hour after he landed the stolen hoverbike by the lake, he was greeted by a smiling Takashi. _

_ “I found you!” Takashi said excitedly. _

_ Keith was frozen. He wasn’t expecting to see Takashi again, especially not like that.  _

_ “You were really good at flying that thing,” Takashi said good-naturedly. “You might even be better than me someday.” _

_ He curled up a little, waiting for Takashi to turn away from him, to give up on him. _

_ “Why are you being so nice to me? I stole your hoverbike. I screwed up.” _

_ Takashi leaned down and offered Keith his hand. _

_ “Everyone needs a hand sometimes. Just… don’t give up on me, and I won’t give up on you. But more importantly, don't give up on yourself, Keith. It's okay to need help.” _

His eyes opened.

There was the roar of a lion, one he recognized quite well after all those years.

When he came to, he realized that he was in Black’s cargo hold, and a glance behind him showed that Shiro was there too.

“You saved us. Thank you.”

  


*****

  


Keith felt no shame in staying as close to Shiro as he could, touching him, just to feel that he was  _ alive _ .

But soon enough he realized that not all was well.

Shiro’s body was failing. He wasn’t sure how he knew that but he could feel with every breath he took, Shiro was getting closer to death. With every breath he took, Shiro was fading away.

It was the last straw. He could no longer hold back his tears or his shaking body.

“Shiro, please,” he begged, hands over Shiro’s heart like if he did that, he could stop it from ceasing to beat. “Fight! You can’t do this to me again!”

He slammed his fist on Shiro’s body, before he rested his head on Shiro’s chest, sobbing.

“Come back to me,” he pleaded.

Seconds later, Shiro’s breathing began to deepen and Keith could feel the life in him strengthening.

Keith drew back in surprise and barely concealed hope, as Shiro’s eyes fluttered open.

“Keith, I was dreaming,” Shiro said slowly. “Keith, you saved me.”

Keith flung his arms around Shiro, relishing in Shiro’s  _ aliveness _ , before he pulled Shiro up into a kiss.

“We saved each other,” he replied.

After he’d pulled back, he realized that Shiro’s appearance had changed slightly.

The purple glow had left Shiro’s eyes entirely, but now the hints of gold Keith had always seen in his eyes had spread out, covering even his sclera. It was different but he couldn’t say he didn’t like it.

  


*****

  


Over the next hour, Keith explained what had happened to Shiro, beginning with what had happened after he’d woken up from the rift.

“They betrayed us… betrayed me. I won’t ever forgive them for this.” There was no more room in him left for regret. Only anger. 

Shiro had always been better than him. He’d known that from the very beginning.

“They were your friends once. You don’t have to support me in this.”

Shiro was the only one he would allow such choices.

His friends’ betrayal had shaken him, but more than that, it had been Shiro forgetting him, Shiro begging Keith to let him go, that truly shook Keith to his core. 

To have Shiro turn away from him again...

“I promised you once, I would never give up on you,” Shiro reminded him gently, brushing the tears off his face. “You saved me. You never gave up on me. I choose you. If I had to choose between a universe or you, I’d always choose you. Everything I am is yours.”

“And everything you are is mine,” Keith finished.

“My emperor,” Keith said, kissing Shiro’s forehead where he’d crowned him. "My husband," he continued, kissing Shiro's hand where he still wore his ring. "My Champion," he said, kissing Shiro's cheek, right over the edge of his scar. “My heart,” he declared, before pressing a kiss right over Shiro’s heart. "My Shiro," he finished, catching Shiro's lips with his own.

Kiss broken, Shiro’s hands immediately came up to cup Keith's cheeks as Shiro pressed his forehead to Keith’s.

“I’ll give you the universe, so you never have to choose,” Keith promised.

Shiro nodded. "We'll make them regret what they did to us."

"Together,” Keith agreed.

“No matter what we do next, we’ll do it together.”

“Always.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen to i remember by les friction for dark sheith in this au, you won't regret it
> 
> hope you enjoyed the story!!!
> 
> ps. does anyone want to read a sequel where paladin!allura ends up in the cryopod for 10000 years and is woken up by the reincarnations of her friends? im asking for a friend

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me at [tumblr](http://lucifercaelestis.tumblr.com) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/LuciferCael)


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